Julianne Hough on Season 34 Ratings, Online Hate

Tusday night’s “Dancing With the Stars” special may be celebrating the holiday season with musical performances and festive routines, but co-host Julianne Hough is also celebrating Season 34 — and her long-running career on the show.

“I feel like it’s just part of my DNA now, and I think that’s because I have been on the show for so many years in different roles, there’s almost a familiarity for other people as well,” she tells Variety.

Hough joined the series in 2007 as a pro dancer on Season 4, winning both her first and second seasons. She continued on the show through Season 8, leaving ahead of fall 2009’s 9th season. Over the next few years, she returned for specific dances and in 2013, became the first former pro to return as a guest judge, which she did for both Seasons 17 and 18. She then landed a permaneant spot at the table for five seasons between 2014 to 2017 (Seasons 19, 20, 21, 23 and 24) before exiting. With a few more guest judging spots through the years, she rejoined the show full time in 2023 as a co-host for Season 32 alongside Alfonso Ribeiro.

“My whole life has been dancing, and ballroom dancing specifically. So I’ve been in roles to help the celebrity feel comfortable so that they can come to me for anything, and the pros too. I also know what the judges are looking for,” she continues. “I feel lucky that I’ve just been able to grow up with this show and have it raise me.”

The series hit new highs this season, with Season 34 receiving a record number of votes (72 million on the finale and nearly a billion throughout the season) and the finale raking in 9.24 million viewers, the largest finale since 2016. Many factors contributed to the rise, including TikTok and social media in general, but more than anything, the casting team weas able to find a diverse crowd that brought in muolitple different age groups.

“Where we were 20 years ago, being a reality star was almost a bad taste in your mouth. It had this connotation. But today, with social media, everybody has a platform to show who they are,” says Hough. “It’s been more wildly — not just accepted, but embraced. It’s encouraged to show the authenticity of who you are. And I think the show is built on being vulnerable and authentic and showing progress and growth versus just showing the excellent results always.”

Personally, it’s been a safe haven — pun intended — for Hough, no matter what is going on in elsewhere in her personal or professional life.

“My whole life has been about pivoting and trying different things, moving out of the country and training. This has been the most consistent thing in my life, and it’s always been the thing that I’ve been able to come home to and still feel like I’m being challenged and accepted,” she explains. “It’s a place to still discover myself, but in a safe, contained environment where it’s all about growth and expansion through rhinestones and glitter.”

Along with the positive — massive ratings and viewership — comes the negative: criticism and online bullying led to multiple people speaking out, pros, celebrities and judges alike. And it’s hard to avoid.

“What I’m realizing is everybody wants to be seen and everybody wants to feel significant and important. The only way to really do that is if you go viral. And the fastest way to go viral is, unfortunately, through negativity,” says Hough. “Negativity breeds negativity. Positivity breeds positivity. We have this magic sauce where this show is so positive, so it’s breeding positivity, but then it’s also activating people to have polarity, and that’s what creates tension… Everybody has a right to say how they feel. It’s just unfortunate when it’s not necessarily true, or they’re looking to tear somebody apart.”

While polarity can be a positive thing — “If there’s no polarity, then things just kind of like fizzle out,” she notes — there must also be a line between sharing opinions and being harmful. “You don’t have to be really, really mean. It’s almost dangerous with some of the comments people have been saying.” 

“I’ve never had people talk to me like that,” she says of the personal mean comments she received this season, but knows that sometimes their remarks “are not wrong.”

“I think that’s what kind of makes me charming and funny and real, is that I do mess up sometimes. Instead of being defensive, I either play along with it, or I just ignore it,” she says. Others have received more vitriol, she adds — and sometimes it gets too much to ignore, especially for the dancers.

“It takes a toll, because not only are they just getting feedback from people. They’re pouring so much energy in day after day. They don’t get a day off, their bodies are exhausted,” she says. “When your body is exhausted, you are so much more vulnerable and emotionally raw, so you’re susceptible to getting your feelings hurt.”

Whitney Leavitt, for her part, was arguably the best celebrity dancer on the season. However, when “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” came out and revealed she returned to the reality show only to audition for “DWTS,” it appeared audiences turned on her and she was eliminated that week. Leavitt and partner Mark Ballas later went on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and revealed the awful bullying they were receiving.

“I think everybody was shocked [by her elimination],” the host says, adding that she was extremely sad to see people tearing Leavitt down for “being ambitious” and following her goal. “This woman is a star, and this has been her dream. Don’t knock somebody for finding the way to make that happen. I get protective when people are tearing other people down.”

Hough says she feels for all the cast members — but really doesn’t understand those who complain about Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough’s judging. “This is their job,” she says. “Let them do what they do.”

Despite it all, she agrees that this has been the most competitive season in years — something she’s thrilled is back. And with the camaraderie among the cast, it proves people can be both respectful and want to win at the same time.

“There were a few seasons where the show was really nice, but where’s the competition? Life, society, and culture shifts and the pendulum swings. I think a few years ago, we were in the participation award for everyone era. I think the pendulum has come back a little bit. Now, it’s okay; we can all support each other, but also it’s a good thing to feel competitive, to want to win,” she says. “Winning is not about other people losing; winning is about giving it your all and feeling like you put everything out there and not feeling bad. So I love that you can feel the energy of competition in the show again, and still have everybody rooting for each other. We are rooting for people to do their best.”

“Dancing With the Stars” holiday special airs on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, streaming the next day on Hulu.