''Dancing with the Stars'' is an Australian light entertainment

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

which originally aired on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

from 2004 to 2015 and on

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

from 2019 to 2020. When it was on the

, it was broadcast live from the

HSV-7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melb ...

studios (now Global Television studios) in Melbourne; on

it aired live from

Disney Studios Australia Disney Studios Australia (formerly Fox Studios Australia) is a motion picture and television production facility in Sydney that has operated as part of The Walt Disney Company since 2019. Occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at ...

in Sydney and Docklands Studios in Melbourne. The show is based on the British BBC Television series ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' and is part of

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

's international ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' franchise. The show pairs celebrities with professional

ballroom dancers Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

who each week compete against each other in a dance-off to impress a panel of judges and ultimately the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination. Through telephone and SMS voting, viewers vote for the duo they think should remain in the competition. Judges' scores are combined with the viewer votes when determining which duo is eliminated.

History

2004–2015: Seven's original iteration

The show debuted in a short run from October to November 2004, then returned the following February. The show was a ratings success averaging around 2 million viewers a week nationally during its peak which places the series at number 1 of the entire day. The logo used for the first seven series of ''Dancing with the Stars'' is similar to the logo used by ''Strictly Come Dancing''. The logo used for the eighth series and beyond is similar to that used by the US version of ''Dancing with the Stars''. The program ended after 15 seasons when the Seven Network announced in October 2016 it would not renew the program, despite previously suggesting a sixteenth season would air in 2017.

2019–2020: 10's iteration

In September 2018,

announced the series would be revived and hosted by television presenters and former contestants

Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. In 2018 ...

and

Amanda Keller Amanda Rose Keller (born 25 February 1962) is an Australian television and radio presenter, comedian, writer, actress, journalist and media personality, best known as the hostess of the popular Australian lifestyle program ''The Living Room''. ...

. The revival premiered on 18 February 2019. In October 2019, the series was renewed for a seventeenth season, which premiered on 9 February 2020. In October 2020, Network 10 announced the revived series would not return in 2021.

2021: Seven's second iteration

In December 2020, Seven announced they have re-gained the rights to the series, and will be bringing the show back with an All-Stars edition in 2021. The series was filmed at the ICC in Sydney during March 2021. The season premiered on 11 April 2021.

Cast

Hosts

From seasons 1 to 7 and season 18, entertainment legend

Daryl Somers Daryl Paul Somers (né Schulz; 6 August 1951) is an Australian television personality and musician, and a triple Gold Logie award-winner. He rose to national fame as the host and executive producer of the long-running comedy-variety program '' ...

and dancer/actress/television presenter

Sonia Kruger Sonia Melissa Kruger (born 28 August 1965) is an Australian television presenter and media personality, who has been a prominent figure in the media for over 20 years. Kruger is currently the host of '' Big Brother Australia'' and a presenter o ...

were the two primary hosts. For season 8, Somers was replaced by actor

Daniel MacPherson Daniel Donald MacPherson (born 25 April 1980) is an Australian actor and television presenter, known for his roles as Joel Samuels in ''Neighbours'', PC Cameron Tait in ''The Bill'', Sergeant Samuel Wyatt in Sky and Cinemax's '' Strike Back'', ...

, when Somers returned to the Nine network to host the rebooted '' Hey Hey, It's Saturday''. Kruger continued to co-host with MacPherson, until the start of season 12, when she also defected to the Nine network. Kruger was subsequently replaced by former Spice Girl

Melanie Brown Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed S ...

, who is a former contestant in the American version of the show, in

season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

. In 2013, Brown was replaced by ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

'' weather presenter

Edwina Bartholomew Edwina Louise Christie Bartholomew (born 5 July 1983) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Bartholomew is currently news presenter on the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise''. She has previously been a co-ho ...

. In 2015,

Shane Bourne Shane Bourne (born 24 November 1949 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and television host. Career 1970s Co-founded Australian band Bandicoot with Mick Fettes (formerly of the band Madder Lake). The ...

replaced

as co-host. It was announced in September 2018 that in 2019, a 16th season would begin. A whole new cast and crew will be involved in a new production with a 'fresh look' with

and

co-hosting. Key: Previous Current

Judges

From seasons 1 to 7, the judging panel consisted of four primary judges:

Todd McKenney Todd McKenney (born 31 May 1965) is an Australian dancer, theatre performer and TV personality. He is best known as a judge on Australian television talent show '' Dancing with the Stars''. As a theatre performer, he has appeared in numerous pr ...

Helen Richey Helen Richey (November 21, 1909 – January 7, 1947) was a pioneering female aviator and the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the United States. In 1933, she and her flying partner, Frances Harrell Marsalis, set ...

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in '' Strictly Ballroom'' 1992 and his role as a judge on TV series ''Dancing with the Stars''. H ...

and Mark Wilson. At the start of season 8, Mercurio left the judging panel. Before the eleventh season began, Wilson was dumped by the Seven network and replaced by Joshua Horner.Seven dumps Dancing with the Stars judge
MediaSpy 9 April 2011 McKenney, Richey and Horner have made up the primary judging panel since 2011.

Kym Johnson Kym Herjavec (née Johnson; born 4 August 1976) is an Australian professional ballroom dancer and television performer who appeared in the first three seasons of the Australian version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, b ...

who comes from the American version of the show, and Adam Garcia join the judging panel in 2013. In 2015,

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition '' Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptatio ...

, who comes from both British and American versions, replaced Garcia as a judge for the first three weeks before leaving just three judges for the rest of the season. Ian "Dicko" Dickson and

have also appeared as guest judges throughout the series, providing feedback and scores as part of their judging role.

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Anders ...

Damian Whitewood Damian Whitewood is an Australian dancer and former dancesport competitor. Background Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia Damian was first introduced to ballroom dancing at the age of 10 through his older brother. His mother was also a ...

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

and

Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, t ...

have also appeared as guest judges on the

series, but providing comments and feedback only. For season 16, the judging panel consisted of three primary judges:

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best ...

Sharna Burgess Sharna May Burgess (born 21 June 1985) is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for being a professional partner and troupe member on the ABC series '' Dancing with the Stars''. She is the winner of season 27 of American televisio ...

and

Tristan MacManus Tristan MacManus (born 23 July 1982) is an Irish dancer and television presenter. He best known for his professional appearances on ''Dancing with the Stars'', ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and '' Dancing with the Stars Australia''. In 2017, he wen ...

. Key: Previous Current

Professional partners

Color key: : Winner : Runner-up : Third place : Celebrity partner was eliminated first for the season : Celebrity partner withdrew from the competition : Celebrity partner quit from the competition : Celebrity partner participating in the competition

Series overview

Dances

The following are the dances performed by couples on ''Dancing with the Stars''. In addition, each couple in the final round performs a dance of any style or combination of styles of their choosing, called "freestyle". * These scores have been modified to be out of 30, instead of 40.

Champion of Champions

In late 2005, the winners of series two (Tom Williams) and three (Ada Nicodemou) competed against each other for the title of Champion of Champions. Series one winner

Bec Hewitt Rebecca June Hewitt ( Cartwright; born 23 July 1983) is an Australian actress and singer. From 1998 to 2005, Hewitt played Hayley Smith Lawson on the soap opera ''Home and Away''. As Bec Cartwright, Hewitt released an eponymous pop music albu ...

did not compete as she was pregnant at the time. Ada Nicodemou and her partner

Aric Yegudkin Aric Yegudkin is an Australian choreographer and professional dancer born on 14 November 1985. Yegudkin is best known as a professional dancer on the Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series), Australian Dancing with the Stars. Early life Y ...

won the championship, defeating Tom Williams and his partner,

, based on the judges' scores.

Scoring chart

:''Red numbers'' indicate the couples with the lowest score for each week. :Green numbers indicate the couples with the highest score for each week. : indicates the winning couple. : indicates the runner-up couple.

Running Order

''Individual judges scores in the chart below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right:

, Mark Wilson.''

Week 1

;Running order

Week 2