Chandler Kinney makes “Dancing With the Stars” look like a cake walk, but the star admitted the show has not always been smooth sailing.
The 24-year-old actress topped the leaderboard the first three nights of the ballroom dancing competition with her partner Brandon Armstrong. The couple even received the highest compliment of Soul Train night, with guest judge Rosie Perez saying they “personified soul.”
Despite high scores and her effortless dancing ability, the “Zombies” franchise star told TheWrap this new project is unlike anything she’s done before. The biggest challenge for her, though, has not been the dancing component … it’s been social media.
“I historically have been more offline than a lot of, I would say, other members of Gen Z,” Kinney said, explaining that it has a lot to do with growing up in the entertainment industry. “It is just such a specific environment to be in at such a young age and to be subjected to so many people’s opinions and judgment of you when you’re just trying to figure out who the heck you are.”
“But now I’m in a competition where it’s become an integral part of your success on the show,” she said, noting that while social media activity is not required of the contestants, it’s noticeably beneficial for engagement.
To succeed in the dancing competition, stars must equally pull their weight with fan votes and judges’ scores. And the fans have largely planted themselves on TikTok. Social media star Harry Jowsey’s online community last season was enough to keep him on the show for nine weeks, even with some of the lowest scores in the competition.
For Kinney, she said that being vulnerable online has been a “learning curve.”
“If people only see you on the Tuesday night when you’ve undergone two and a half hours of hair and makeup and you’re in the cutest costume that’s specifically tailored to you, and you’re showcasing the thing that you just spent the last six days working on, it’s a lot harder to resonate with the people that you see on screen, whereas in the social media environment that’s a little bit more stripped down, you can be more authentic,” she said. “It humanizes the process.”
Though she danced a little growing up, and even studied at the Debbie Allen School of Dance, the star transitioned fully to acting at age nine, appearing in “American Horror Story,” “90210” and “K.C. Undercover” as a child star — meaning the transition back to ballroom has been no joke.
“I think you’re just trying to hold so many things in your head all at once. You can’t just focus on one thing, and that’s been a great challenge for me. I am not a big multitasker,” Kinney shared. “I like to just give 100 percent of myself to the thing in front of me and that’s impossible in this competition.”
The “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” star has leaned on her partner Armstrong and called him the yin to her yang in the competition, keeping her calm amidst the no-days-off schedule (the star squeezed in this interview from her car on her break, for example).
“I can’t imagine doing this with anybody else. He’s just been my rock and my anchor,” she said.
Kinney also admitted she was surprised when she got the call to join Season 33 of “DWTS.” She told her team at the end of 2022 that she was interested in the show, but said it always felt like a far-fetched idea.
“I really wanted to do the show because it really just had been a dream of mine. I was a fan growing up, and it just felt like a challenge,” she said.
Her “Zombies” co-star Milo Manheim competed on the show in 2018 and came in second place with his partner Witney Carson. Kinney said that his bode of confidence pushed her to compete. She also hinted that Manheim may make a return to the ballroom at some point this season: “He was like, ‘If there’s a trio night, I better be there.’”
For now, Kinney is mostly focused on the show and processing the cancellation of her Max series “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School,” but she hinted that 2025 may have some new adventures in store.
The “Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour” is set to premiere next summer. Kinney said that she was originally in talks to participate, but with the strikes pushing back the dates, she said it makes “more sense for the younger generation” to carry it on.
“I wouldn’t count out a little special appearance here and there, potentially,” she teased.
When asked about the “Dancing With the Stars” tour, she said, “I don’t think that I would say no, so maybe I’ll just be on the road next year, just touring it up.” Her partner is already confirmed to go on tour this winter.
New episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” premiere live on Tuesday nights on ABC and Disney+.
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