'Dancing With The Stars' Champion Reveals Shocking Season 28 Change

Dancing with the Stars season 28 hasn’t just changed dancers; Sharna Burgess has revealed a jaw-dropping change in the ABC show’s dances, too.

Sharna Burgess has been missed on Dancing with the Stars, and now she’s telling fans something that will leave them on the (dance) floor.

Despite being the Season 27 champion, Burgess was one of the dancers who wasn’t brought back for the current season 28. Her exclusion shocked many viewers of the ABC show, since she had finally won the Mirrorball Trophy with Bobby Bones—albeit in one of DWTS‘ most controversial decisions.

That was just one of many changes that took place over the hiatus. ABC not only added new dancers but tinkered with the show’s format and got a new showrunner.

And the network came under heavy fire when it cast former White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Even host Tom Bergeron criticized Spicer being part of the reality show.

Then there was the conspiracy theory that Christie Brinkley faked an injury.

But what Burgess said on Bones’ podcast recently may be the season’s biggest bombshell. Relive their winning moment below, then keep reading to find out what she revealed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyjIMyZS7ng

DWTS pros lose creative control

Even though Sharna Burgess isn’t on DWTS anymore, she’s still in touch with this season’s pros and that’s how she became aware of a startling change behind the scenes.

According to Burgess, Dancing with the Stars no longer allows the pro dancers to design their routines. Instead, the show’s “creative director” tells them almost everything—including their song choice and the theme of the routine! The only thing the pros get to do anymore is to decide which dance steps go with the chosen song.

“The dancers no longer get to design their dances,” Burgess said on the podcast. “Now the dancers just get their creative concepts given to them. They get told what they’re wearing, what their set is, what their song is, everything. So they don’t have that creative say in these pieces anymore.”

The only time they might be in control, she speculated, is during the freestyle week. But otherwise, the show is now basically working off its own kind of script.

Bachelorette star Hannah Brown is currently the favorite to win Season 28. But given this information, it’s hard to get too excited about whoever wins. The excitement of DWTS is seeing the creativity of each celebrity couple and telling their story. Now their story is filtered through the producers’ vision. ABC needed to shake up the show after last season, but taking control away from the expert dancers wasn’t the way to do it.

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Does Sharna Burgess’ revelation change your feelings about this season?