Kaitlyn Bristowe Talks About Surprise ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Casting & Dream Competitors

Kaitlyn Bristowe once claimed that behind-the-scenes drama prevented her from appearing on Dancing with the Stars, but she just found out that she’s finally getting her chance to compete for the mirrorball trophy. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the former Bachelorette star reacted to her surprise invite to join the show, and she shared some suggestions on who should be cast as her competition.

Bristowe, 34, learned that she would be joining the Season 29 DWTS cast while speaking to Chris Harrison during Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever! As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Harrison broke the news to her in the form of a question. Bristowe’s boyfriend, Jason Tartick, was with her, so he learned about her casting at the exact same time she did. They were both visibly shocked, and Bristowe was so happy that she told Harrison that she was “going to cry.”

Bristowe’s invitation came after years of allegations that Bachelor producer Mike Fleiss had prevented her from competing on DWTS. Bristowe claimed that she was offered the opportunity to appear on the reality dancing competition in 2015 after The Bachelorette, but Fleiss prevented her from doing so because he didn’t “want people wanting fame.” Two years later, one of the contestants from Bristowe’s season of The Bachelorette, Nick Viall, was allowed to appear on the show after his 2017 stint as the leading man on The Bachelor.

Just last year, Bristowe claimed that Fleiss “hates women” while talking to podcast host Nikki Glaser about the casting controversy. However, Bristowe revealed that her relationship with Fleiss is much better now, and she described their previous interactions as “miscommunications” while talking to Entertainment Tonight. She said that she emailed Fleiss to thank him for allowing her to appear on DWTS, and he invited her to have a conversation with him.

Bristowe shared her excitement over finally getting a chance to dance on DWTS, and she talked about who she’d like to compete against. Her ideas included two familiar faces from the news whose profiles have been raised due to the coronavirus pandemic — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci. Her third suggestion was Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

“My 13-year-old self would have a field day with that one,” Bristowe quipped.

Bristowe also stated that she’d love to be partnered with professional dancer Derek Hough. However, he hasn’t appeared on the show in a few years, and he’s currently a judge on the NBC reality series World of Dance. One of her other favorite pros who has been active on the show is Gleb Savchenko, who finished in fourth place with partner Lauren Alaina last season. One of Bristowe’s fellow Bachelorette alums, Hannah Brown, took home the mirrorball trophy under the guidance of pro Alan Bersten.

Dancing with the Stars is expected to return this fall, but a premiere date hasn’t been set yet. When Kaitlyn finally does get her chance to shine in the ballroom, she’ll have her own hit country song to dance to.