''Dancing with the Stars'' is an Australian

light entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In Great Britain In the early days of the BBC virtually all broadcast entertainment w ...

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 from 2019 to 2020. When it was on the

, it was broadcast live from the HSV-7 studios (now Global Television studios) in Melbourne; on Network 10 it aired live from Disney Studios Australia 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 j ...

'' and is part of BBC Worldwide'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 form ...

'' 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, Network 10 announced the series would be revived and hosted by television presenters and former contestants Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller. 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 and dancer/actress/television presenter Sonia Kruger were the two primary hosts. For season 8, Somers was replaced by actor Daniel MacPherson, 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, who is a former contestant in the American version of the show, in season 5. In 2013, Brown was replaced by '' Sunrise'' 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 replaced Daniel MacPherson 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 Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller co-hosting. Key: Previous Current

Judges

From seasons 1 to 7, the judging panel consisted of four primary judges: Todd McKenney, Helen Richey, Paul Mercurio 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 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). Ander ...

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 Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...

and Dame Edna Everage 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, Sharna Burgess and Tristan MacManus. 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 did not compete as she was pregnant at the time. Ada Nicodemou and her partner Aric Yegudkin won the championship, defeating Tom Williams and his partner, Kym Johnson, 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: Todd McKenney, Helen Richey, Paul Mercurio, Mark Wilson.''

Week 1

;Running order

Week 2