13 Celebrities Whose Careers Blew Up After They Competed on 'Dancing with the Stars'

01of 13ZendayaAdam Taylor/DisneyLong before she was scoringEmmy Awardsand giving usiconic ensembleson red carpets,Zendayacompeted on season 16 ofDancing with the Starsin 2013 with Val Chmerkovskiy — and came in second place!

01of 13

Zendaya

Adam Taylor/Disney

Long before she was scoringEmmy Awardsand giving usiconic ensembleson red carpets,Zendayacompeted on season 16 ofDancing with the Starsin 2013 with Val Chmerkovskiy — and came in second place!

02of 13Kim KardashianKelsey McNeal/DisneyOne year afterKeeping Up with the Kardashiansdebuted on E!, thereality mogultried her hand at ballroom dancing and was a contestant in season 7 of the show in 2008. Unfortunately, her stint withMark Ballaswas short-lived, and she was eliminated in week 3.

02of 13

Kim Kardashian

Kelsey McNeal/Disney

One year afterKeeping Up with the Kardashiansdebuted on E!, thereality mogultried her hand at ballroom dancing and was a contestant in season 7 of the show in 2008. Unfortunately, her stint withMark Ballaswas short-lived, and she was eliminated in week 3.

03of 13

Chris Hemsworth

Kristian Dowling/Getty

04of 13NormaniEric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment ContentWe now know her as the girl who can churn out abreathtaking performanceat an awards shows, but whenNormanicompeted in 2005’s season 24, she was still a semi-known member ofFifth Harmony.The “Motivation” singer’s week 10 elimination cameas a shock, as she was a top prospect to take the Mirrorball Trophy that year with partnerVal Chmerkovskiy.

04of 13

Normani

Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content

We now know her as the girl who can churn out abreathtaking performanceat an awards shows, but whenNormanicompeted in 2005’s season 24, she was still a semi-known member ofFifth Harmony.The “Motivation” singer’s week 10 elimination cameas a shock, as she was a top prospect to take the Mirrorball Trophy that year with partnerVal Chmerkovskiy.

05of 13TinasheEric McCandless/ABCLike Normani,Tinashe’selimination also came as a shock. The “2 On” singer had afew albumsunder her belt before she competed, and fans were staggered when she and partnerBrandon Armstrongwereeliminatedin week 4 of season 27 in 2018.

05of 13

Tinashe

Eric McCandless/ABC

Like Normani,Tinashe’selimination also came as a shock. The “2 On” singer had afew albumsunder her belt before she competed, and fans were staggered when she and partnerBrandon Armstrongwereeliminatedin week 4 of season 27 in 2018.

06of 13Wendy WilliamsAdam Taylor/DisneyBeforeTheWendy WilliamsShowbecame adaytime behemoth, Williamsadmittedlyjoined season 12 ofDWTSin 2011 to get more eyes on her new series.Sheand partnerTony Dovolaniwere eliminated in week 3.

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Wendy Williams

BeforeTheWendy WilliamsShowbecame adaytime behemoth, Williamsadmittedlyjoined season 12 ofDWTSin 2011 to get more eyes on her new series.Sheand partnerTony Dovolaniwere eliminated in week 3.

07of 13

Lisa Rinna

Bob D’Amico/Disney

08of 13JoJo SiwaEric McCandless/ABCYes,Siwahad a huge youth following prior to joining season 30 in 2021, but her stint on the show exposed her to a wider audience and she instantly became a fan favorite. The formerDance Momsstar — who made up thefirst-ever same-sex couplewith proJenna Johnson— was the season’srunner-up.

08of 13

JoJo Siwa

Yes,Siwahad a huge youth following prior to joining season 30 in 2021, but her stint on the show exposed her to a wider audience and she instantly became a fan favorite. The formerDance Momsstar — who made up thefirst-ever same-sex couplewith proJenna Johnson— was the season’srunner-up.

09of 13Jordan FisherEric McCandless/GettyWe knew singer/actorFisherfrom his stints onThe Secret Life of the American Teenageras well asLiv and Maddie,but thisyoung superstartotally dominated season 25 ofDWTSin 2017: the then-23-year-old and partnerLindsay Arnoldwon theMirrorball Trophythat season.

09of 13

Jordan Fisher

Eric McCandless/Getty

We knew singer/actorFisherfrom his stints onThe Secret Life of the American Teenageras well asLiv and Maddie,but thisyoung superstartotally dominated season 25 ofDWTSin 2017: the then-23-year-old and partnerLindsay Arnoldwon theMirrorball Trophythat season.

10of 13

Mario Lopez

Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Conten

11of 13

Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino

Adam Larkey/Disney

12of 13Mark CubanCarol Kaelson/Disney General EntertainmentCuban certainly didn’t needDWTSto grow hisbillion-dollar empire, but two years before he became everyone’s favorite shark onShark Tank,he was a contestant on the dancing show on season 5 in 2007. He was eliminated in week 5, coming in eighth place with partnerKym Johnson—who is now marriedtoShark Tankstar (andDWTScompetitor) Robert Herjavec.

12of 13

Mark Cuban

Carol Kaelson/Disney General Entertainment

Cuban certainly didn’t needDWTSto grow hisbillion-dollar empire, but two years before he became everyone’s favorite shark onShark Tank,he was a contestant on the dancing show on season 5 in 2007. He was eliminated in week 5, coming in eighth place with partnerKym Johnson—who is now marriedtoShark Tankstar (andDWTScompetitor) Robert Herjavec.

13of 13Alfonso RibeiroD Dipasupil/FilmMagicWe all loved him as Carlton onThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,but hisseason 19 winwithWitney CarsononDWTSin 2014 certainly gaveRibeiro’scareer a second wind: the actor is currentlyco-hosting season 31alongside Tyra Banks.

13of 13

Alfonso Ribeiro

D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

We all loved him as Carlton onThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,but hisseason 19 winwithWitney CarsononDWTSin 2014 certainly gaveRibeiro’scareer a second wind: the actor is currentlyco-hosting season 31alongside Tyra Banks.

source: people.com