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8 Times the Bachelor World Has Collided With Dancing With the Stars
From the very beginning, there’s been a connection between ABC’s two big reality franchises, The Bachelor and Dancing With the Stars. Wondering just how many Bachelors (and Bachelorettes!) have taken to the dance floor after their final roses? We’ve got the scoop! As it turns out, the shows have been sharing stars since day one, with the very first Bachelorette ever also starring on the very first DWTS season ever, and it’s only continued from there. The Bachelor stars who have appeared on DWTS have had some very mixed results, from first-week eliminations to victories, but they’ve all had one thing in common: they’re all super entertaining! Keep reading to see how all of your Bachelor Nation faves fared when they hit the dance floor for DWTS.
Trista Sutter
The original Bachelorette was also one of the original DWTS cast members, dancing with Louis van Amstel in the very first season of the show. She holds one other “first” that’s not quite as exciting: she was the first-ever eliminated celebrity on DWTS! Today, Sutter is happily married to her final rose recipient, Ryan, and they live in Colorado with their two children.
Melissa Rycroft
Rycroft had a ton of fan support when she joined DWTS in 2009, fresh off being dumped by Bachelor Jason Mesnick in favor of the runner-up, Molly Malaney. She and partner Tony Dovolani came in third place, but that wasn’t the end of Rycroft’s dancing journey: she returned for the all-star season in 2012, partnering with Dovolani again, and this time she took home the mirror ball trophy!
Since then, Rycroft has appeared with DWTS as the host of the show’s 2015 tour, and she hosted a handful of other reality specials in the years following as well. She’s married to Tye Strickland, and they have three children.
Jake Pavelka
The famously controversial Bachelor, who first appeared on Jillian Harris’s season of The Bachelorette, proposed to Vienna Girardi in his final episode, but the relationship ended soon afterwards. He competed with Chelsie Hightower on season 10 of DWTS and placed sixth. Since then, he’s kept a fairly low profile, presumably going back to his piloting career.
Sean Lowe
Sean’s season of The Bachelor resulted in one of the all-too-rare long-term success stories from the franchise. His final rose went to Catherine Giudici; they’re now married with three children. Following his stint as the Bachelor, he went on DWTS and placed sixth with pro Peta Murgatroyd.
He’s kept a lower profile in more recent years, spending time with his family and occasionally doing speaking engagements.
Chris Soules
Soules began as a rejected contestant from Andi Dorfman’s season of The Bachelorette before becoming the Bachelor himself. He proposed to his winner, Whitney Bischoff, but they broke up only months after the season aired. On DWTS, he was partnered with Witney Carson and landed in fifth place. Since then, he hasn’t done much work publicly; his most recent brush with notoriety revolved around an arrest and conviction for leaving the scene of a fatal car accident.
Nick Viall
Viall is one of the most frequently appearing cast members in Bachelor Nation. He was the runner-up on two consecutive seasons of The Bachelorette, then competed on Bachelor Pad. Finally, he was chosen as the Bachelor in 2017 and ultimately proposed to Vanessa Grimaldi. They broke up a year later. On DWTS, he was partnered with Peta Murgatroyd and tied for sixth (along with Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and her partner Artem Chigvintsev).
After finishing his reality TV career (for now), Viall launched a celebrity talk show podcast in 2019 called The Viall Files.
Joe Amabile
“Grocery Store Joe” is quite possibly the most popular Bachelorette contestant ever who was eliminated on the very first night. The fan favorite didn’t win Becca Kufrin’s heart, but he went on to Bachelor in Paradise, where he started a relationship with Kendall Long. He lasted as far as the semifinals with partner Jenna Johnson. Since then, he’s been working on several projects and has moved to California with Long.
Hannah Brown
The most recent Bachelorette star (who previously placed seventh in Colton Underwood’s Bachelor season) hit the dance floor right after her controversy-laden season came to an end. Luckily for her, her DWTS stint with partner Alan Bersten had a much happier ending than her onscreen romances: they won the season! Most recently, Hannah has popped up as a guest on the first episode of Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor, sparking rumours that they still have feelings for one another.