The cast of season 34 of Dancing With The Stars was finally revealed on Wednesday morning. Much to the surprise of fans everywhere, one of the fourteen celebrities competing is none other than Hilaria Baldwin, the wife of the Hollywood star Alec Baldwin.
Dancing With The Stars Season 34 Cast
Hilaria is part of the cast that also includes Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, former NBA point guard Baron Davis, former child star Corey Feldman, reality TV personality Dylan Efron (brother of actor Zac Efron), Conan O’Brien’s one-time sidekick Andy Richter and Parent Trap actress Elaine Hendrix.
Joining these stars will be conservationist Robert Irwin (son of the late Steve Irwin), TikTok dance influencer Alix Earle and two stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives – Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt.
Hilaria, 41, will be partnered with the professional dancer Gleb Savchenko, 41. He has competed on Dancing With The Stars in twelve different seasons.
Savchenko’s highest placement has been fourth place, which he’s achieved three different times. He first came in fourth place in season 23 with the country music singer Jana Kramer. Savchenko later came in fourth again in season 28 with the former American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina. Finally, Savchenko came in fourth place in season 30 with the drag queen Shangela.
Hilaria Excited To Compete
Hilaria lives in New York City with Alec, 67, and their seven children. They will all be heading to Los Angeles, California while she competes on the show.
“I’m bringing everybody,” Hilaria told USA Today. “We just decided to do something crazy and that we’d all go to L.A.“
Hilaria has a bit of an advantage in this competition, as she has been ballroom dancing since she was a child. Indeed, she even competed with New York University’s ballroom team.
Hilaria recently fueled speculation that she’d be competing on Dancing With The Stars when she began posting next-level “Dance Mom” TikTok routines. Some of them even starred her famous husband.
“Alec is working on his dance moves,” Hilaria teased.
However, Hilaria is now insisting that she was only recently cast on the show. According to her, her TikTok videos manifested the interest of ABC producers through fans.
“It’s a kind of mystical journey that got me here,” Hilaria explained. “I was just having fun. And I’ve been part of this (Dancing With The Stars) world for only about a week-and-a-half.”
Hilaria’s Dancing Experience
Alec had been trying to convince Hilaria to reach out to Dancing With The Stars producers for years. However, she feared she might be too experienced in ballroom to actually compete on the show as a celebrity.
“I didn’t know if I belonged in this space,” she said. “For years, I’ve been saying, ‘I’ve got a lot of experience. Is that a problem?’ Apparently it’s not.”
One thing that may hold Hilaria back is an injury that she suffered 16 years ago, when she broke her hip.
“I closed the door on that part of my life,” she lamented. “I started focusing on yoga, met Alec and we started having kids. My body is different now.”
Another potential hurdle for Hilaria will be winning over voters. Indeed, she and Alec have been seen as controversial figures ever since his infamous 2021 shooting on the set of his movie Rust. There, a gun that Alec was holding went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Though Alec was charged with involuntary manslaughter, the case against him was dropped last summer.
As she prepares to compete, Hilaria has made the conscious decision to ignore her haters.
“Everybody these days has their critics, whether they’re in the spotlight or not,” Hilaria said. “I’ve learned in my 40s that if you go through life trying to prove things to people, then you’re missing the point and you’re missing being present.”
In the end, Hilaria is hoping that Dancing With The Stars will be a fresh start for herself and her family after a difficult few years.
“You collect the good and the bad in life along the way,” she concluded. “We’re all looking forward.”
Full Dancing With The Stars Cast
Check out the full cast of season 34 of Dancing With The Stars and their professional dancer pairings below.
- The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck with partner Jan Ravnik
- Author and wellness influencer Hilaria Baldwin and partner Gleb Savchenko
- Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles with partner Ezra Sosa
- NBA star Baron Davis with partner Britt Stewart
- Social media personality Alix Earle with partner Val Cmerkovskiy
- Reality TV star Dylan Efron and partner Daniella Karagach
- Actor Corey Feldman with partner Jenna Johnson
- Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel with partner Pasha Pashkov
- Film and TV actress Elaine Hendrix with partner Alan Bersten
- Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying with partner Rylee Arnold
- Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin with partner Witney Carson
- Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui with partner Brandon Armstrong
- The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt with partner Mark Ballas
- Comedian Andy Richter with partner Emma Slater
Season 34 of Dancing With The Stars premieres on Tuesday, September 16 on ABC. Be sure to check it out to see how Hilaria and the rest of the cast does!