Dancing with the Stars Season 24 hasn’t even premiered yet, though contestant Heather Morris’ involvement is already causing a whole lot of drama.
Dancing with the Stars fans have been quick to slam the show ahead of the Season 24 premiere on March 20, claiming that it’s unfair that Heather, who was a professional dancer before finding fame on Fox’s Glee , is set to compete against celebrities with no dancing experience after her professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy admitted that they have a “massive advantage.”
“Any of the competitors would want an advantage, a lot of the professionals would want to be paired with an Olympian or experienced partner,” Maks recently admitted of Heather’s big DWTS advantage on the dancing show on Amazon’s Style Code Live , according to Just Jared Jr .
“But if anybody would have that advantage I’m just glad that it’s me,” Chmerkovskiy added of being partnered with Morris ahead of Dancing with the Stars Season 24 premiere, confirming that he knows he and Heather already have a leg up in the competition.
Heather’s supposed “unfair” advantage on DWTS was also a hot topic on The View last week, as Gossip Cop reported that Chmerkovskiy even noted that Morris taking part on the show was “essentially a dancer invited on Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity” while discussing the backlash and “unfair” allegations from fans.
“I get it. We’ve had people in the past that had just as extensive dance background,” Maksim said on the daytime show of Heather’s upcoming stint on Dancing With the Stars , before noting that he believes “the pressure’s going to be bigger” because of Morris’ extensive dancing background.
“We’re going to have to have more to do,” Maksim added of partnering up with Heather on the upcoming season of DWTS .
Dancing with the Stars fans were quick to hit back at the show after hearing Maksim’s remarks about Heather’s big advantage on Season 24 of DWTS , slamming the popular ABC series for being “unfair” to Morris’ fellow contestants, including Olympian Simone Biles, The Bachelor’s Nick Viall, and Mr. T.
“Heather Morris is gonna be on Dancing With the Stars … she used to dance backup for Beyonce… what kind of unfair advantage,” Twitter user @whosteresa hit back amid the backlash, while @itsaPopOD added on the social media site of Heather’s DWTS involvement, “Wait, Heather Morris is on #DWTS? Well, that’s unfair. She used to dance with Beyonce, WTF.”
Morris already has an extensive dancing background behind her, having performed as a backing dancer for Beyonce on multiple occasions as well as appearing as a professional dancer in the 2008 Adam Sandler movie Bedtime Stories .
The latest round of Dancing with the Stars backlash came after Maksim initially told E! News earlier this month that he believes he and Heather have a “massive advantage” going forward in the competition, but claimed that he believes the DWTS judges will judge them more harshly because of Morris’ dancing past.
“To say that we just have this massive advantage, I think so, but I don’t think we’re the only ones that could pull off beautiful, beautiful numbers,” Maksim told the site earlier this month shortly after it was announced that Heather would be joining DWTS as his partner.
“I’m ready for us to be scrutinized a little different and judged a little different and rightfully so,” Chmerkovskiy added of teaming up with Morris at the time. “We’ll do our best.”
Though Heather’s fellow Dancing with the Stars competitors have mainly stayed tight-lipped amid the backlash and “unfair” accusations from DWTS fans, sources alleged last week that Morris’ co-stars supposedly weren’t too happy when it was announced that she would be bringing her extensive dancing experience to the ballroom and allegedly already thinks she’s going to win the whole show.
Dancing with the Stars Season 24 is set to premiere on ABC on March 20.
Do you think it’s unfair for Heather Morris to compete alongside Maksim Chmerkovskiy on Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity?
[Featured Image by Amanda Edwards/Discovery via Getty Images]