Stars from the Beginning

If you have ever wondered exactly where the show Dancing with the Stars has come from, it is really an amazing story.  With six different celebrities paired together with six different professional ballroom dancers, a phenomenon was born into the United States.  The show was already a hit in England, however trying to gauge exactly how well the show would perform in the United States was not quite so easy due to the dramatic differences between viewers.

With the start of the show on June 1, 2005, it was immediately obvious that the show was a hit.  The viewers for the very first episode hit an enormous 13 million viewers and climbed its way to the number one position.  This was an incredible feat for a show that was just starting out, and was success that would just continue to grow as the show went on.  Combining together celebrities from a wide field, incredible costumes and some fabulous dancing has all proven to be a great recipe for success for the show.

The initial cast of the show for celebrities included several people who had not been seen heavily for a very long time, and demonstrated that a bit of time away from the spotlights of Hollywood is not always fatal for a career.

The initial contestants for the show included:
Trista Rehn, her claim to fame was her time on the show the Bachelorette as well as also competing on The Bachelor.  Her time on the show was extremely short lived as she was eliminated on June 8, 2005 along with her partner Louis van Amstel.

Evander Holyfield, he dazzled the world as a major heavyweight boxer and proved that while he was not the most graceful on his feet; he certainly was not the worst.  Pulling all of his experience, as a boxer did not seem to benefit him greatly as his time on the show was tragically brought to an end on June 13, 2005 after just two weeks.  His professional partner was Edyta Sliwinska.

Rachel Hunter, as a famous supermodel it is standard that moving gracefully is required.  While dancing with partner Jonathan Roberts it was unfortunate that Rachel was eliminated on June 22, 2005, which brought their time on the show to an end.

Joey McIntyre, made famous by the 1980’s boy band, New Kids on the Block he has also done a few acting gigs, mostly plays though.  With his own semi-successful music career covering several years, it had been a while since he had been actively heard from.  Paired with professional Ashly DelGrosso he was eliminated on June 29, 2005 after coming in 3rd place.

John O’Hurley was able to secure several acting jobs as well as numerous television show hosting gigs; however, his first stint at competing came on Dancing with the Stars.  Paired with Charlotte Jorgensen as his professional partner the pair was eventually awarded a second place finish on July 6, 2005 for the season finale.

Kelly Monoco, a successful actress with numerous shows to her credits including Baywatch, Port Charles, Hard Copy, Spin City, and General Hospital to name a few was declared the winner of season one on July 6, 2005 with professional partner Alec Mazo bringing a successful end to the first season for the show.

Due to the success of the first season, additional seasons of the show were quickly organized.  Each additional season of the show has increased the number of viewers watching and each features a unique set of celebrity contestants as well.  One of the key factors that has helped to influence the success of the show is the uniqueness compared to anything else that is currently on television.  Because the show pulls upon the success of contestants and offers no prize money at all, it is only a title as well as a trophy that the winning pair is awarded.  While many contestants are not as comfortable with this idea, many others are thoroughly pleased to simply be able to compete again and stay in the public spotlight.