DWTS Salary: How Much Money Do the Cast & Pros Get Paid?

The season 29 premiere of Dancing With the Stars is tonight, September 14 on ABC. The show features a large cast of celebrities and professional dancers each season, and fans often wonder how much they get paid for their appearances.

While it’s widely known that the winner gets more of a prize, the amount the rest of the cast and contestants get paid varies. The longer a contestant lasts on the show, the more they get paid.

Read on to learn more about how much each person on Dancing With the Stars takes home at the end of the season.

The Cast is Given a Large Sign-On Bonus

These stars are dancing it out TONIGHT on #DWTS at 8|7c on ABC! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/R6uDZJK1GA

— Dancing with the Stars #DWTS (@DancingABC) September 14, 2020

According to Variety, contestants on DWTS get paid $125,000 for the rehearsal period as well as for the first two weeks that they’re on the show. This means that any contestant announced makes at least that before getting bonuses as they continue on the show.

According to the same sources, Variety reported that the maximum a contestant will be able to earn on the show is $295,000 for their time on the show. Prior to the report, though, it was reported that contestants could make nearly $350,000 on the season.

Of course, the numbers reported by the outlet reflect what stars made on Season 28 of Dancing with the Stars, and that number could have changed going into the new season of the show, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic causing challenges for production.

The Amount Stars are Paid Increases By Week on the Show

#DWTS premieres tomorrow night on ABC. I’m so excited about my partner!! Can you guess who it is??🤔 @DancingABC pic.twitter.com/wXBddFFU26

— Monica Aldama (@monicaaldama) September 14, 2020

In 2010, Gawker reported that each week the stars stay on the show, the more they get paid. The report says that if they make it past the first two weeks, they make an extra $10,000 each for the next two, and if they make it past the next two episodes, they’ll get $20,000 for each of the next two.

Then, if they continue on that path, they’ll make $30,000 for each of the following two episodes and $50,000 for appearing in the final two episodes.

The numbers have definitely changed since then, but it’s likely the same type of outline is followed. It makes sense that stars would make more the longer that they’re on the show.

It has been reported that the professional dancers make much less than their celebrity dancer counterparts. According to Reel Rundown, they may make up to $100,000 for the entire season, but there are no reliable sources about how much they actually make for each episode of the show.

Likewise, the amount made by the judges isn’t well known, but there are reports that Tom Bergeron made around $150,000 an episode for hosting the show. It’s possible that he was making around $1.5 million for each season, but that has not been well-known. Tyra Banks’ salary for the new season has not been publicized.

Reel Rundown also reported that the judges’ salary could be around $1.2 million for each season of the show, citing that they used to get paid on a per-episode basis, but when the show grew to enormous success, that salary was set on a per-season basis instead.

Tune in to Dancing With the Stars at 8 p.m. on ABC to watch the judges, pros and celebrities in action.

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