Quick Summary:
- Andy Richter and Emma Slater made it to the quarterfinals (Week 9) of Dancing with the Stars despite low scores, because their social content turned fans into voters
- This season the whole cast is doing it — Emma Slater is back with Jackson Olson, couples are making content together, and judge Carrie Ann Inaba is turning fan jokes about her into her own posts
- The Season 34 finale drew 9.24 million viewers, 72 million votes, and 6.9 million social interactions
- Businesses can use the same model: many voices instead of one, the process shared along with the result, and a real role for the audience
The Andy Richter Effect
I’ll start with a confession. I watched Andy Richter’s run on Dancing with the Stars the way some people watch a sports underdog. I yelled at my TV. I voted. I didn’t ask myself why until later.
On paper, Andy and his pro partner Emma Slater should have gone home early. His judges’ scores were consistently near the bottom. But week after week, other couples got eliminated and Andy stayed — all the way to the quarterfinals in Week 9.
The difference was social media. Emma and Andy turned rehearsal into an ongoing comedy series. Practice fails, running jokes, a partnership that felt fun to be around. By the time Tuesday night came, fans weren’t evaluating a two-minute routine. They were cheering for people they felt like they knew.
That matters on this show more than most. Executive producer Conrad Green has said eliminations come down to about 50/50 between the judges’ leaderboard and the public vote. Fans can vote up to 10 times per couple. So every clip that made someone smile was also a campaign ad.
Emma Slater Is Running It Back
Emma is back this season with Jackson Olson, and they’re clearly using what worked. Their posts poke fun at the latest episode and keep the storyline going between broadcasts, so fans never really leave the show.
Jackson is also sharing more about his life beyond the ballroom, including the hard parts. He recently posted about how baseball nearly destroyed his teeth and how a cosmetic dentist saved his smile with dentures. It’s a personal story with nothing to do with dance. It gives fans a fuller picture of who they’re voting for, and that’s exactly why it works.
Carrie Ann Inaba (@carrieanninaba) Instagram video set to the Phantom of the Opera overture, joking about her reaction to lifts on Dancing with the Stars. Watch full video here.
This Season, Everyone Got the Memo
Watching this season, I’ve noticed that most (if not all) of the couples are posting the same kind of content Emma and Andy made famous — rehearsal clips, trend audio, costume fittings, post-show reactions.
It’s gone past individual couples, too. Ahead of this season, Green said the strategy was to get the cast engaging much more on social and “flood the zone with content.” The couples aren’t staying in their own lanes, either. Contestants are showing up in each other’s videos — like Connor Wood and Ezra Frech in their “oops I forgot my fibula” reel, and pro Ezra Sosa teaming up with Tyler Cameron in this collab. They compete against each other every Tuesday, and on Instagram they’re sharing audiences. A fan of one couple finds another, and the whole cast’s fan base grows.
My favorite example is Carrie Ann Inaba. Fans have joked for years about how much she hates when couples pack in too many lifts. Instead of ignoring it, she posted “the song that starts playing in my head when I see a lift,” set to the Phantom of the Opera overture. It’s self-aware and funny, and it takes a running joke about her and makes it hers. A judge who could easily come off as the strict one now feels like part of the fandom.
What you get is a network. Each couple has its own fan base with its own inside jokes. The judges start the debates (and apparently the memes). The official show account handles the polished clips and voting reminders. Fans stitch, duet, argue about scores and recreate the dances. Everyone is telling a different part of the same story — and they all point back to the live broadcast.
9.24M
Viewers for the Season 34 finale
72M
Votes cast — up from 32M the prior season
6.9M
Social interactions — 109% above the season average
Why This Works for Businesses Too
Most brands run social from one account with one voice. That’s a single performer on a very big stage, and it’s hard to root for a logo. Dancing with the Stars shows a better model. Here’s how I’d apply it:
Let your people post. Your sales team, your project managers, and your founder each have their own audiences and personalities. When they share their work, your brand shows up in a lot more feeds — and it sounds a lot more human.
Share the process. The routine is two minutes long. Rehearsal fills the other six days, and that’s where the attachment happens. For a business, that means behind-the-scenes looks at projects, the problem you solved this week, and the decision that almost went the other way.
Show the person behind the work. Jackson’s dental story has nothing to do with dance, and it’s one of the most relatable things he’s posted. Your founder’s origin story, a team member’s path into the industry, and the setbacks that shaped how you work all build trust that a service graphic can’t.
Collaborate with your “competition.” The DWTS couples are rivals, and they still make content together because it grows everyone’s audience. For a business, that could be a co-hosted webinar with a partner, a joint post with a vendor, or a collab with a complementary brand in your market.
Pay attention to what people say about you. Carrie Ann didn’t invent the lift joke. Her audience did, and she joined in. Your comments, reviews, and DMs are full of content ideas your customers already care about.
Give your audience a job. Voting is what makes DWTS fans so invested. Your version could be letting customers pick the next product flavor, featuring user content, or running a poll that shapes an event. People care more about outcomes they helped create.
Build a weekly rhythm. Tease, live moment, reaction, recap, repeat. Consistency trains your audience to show up.
Protect your community. Green has also acknowledged that cast members deal with a lot of online hostility. High engagement doesn’t automatically mean healthy engagement — set moderation standards and back your team when things get ugly.
The Real Mirrorball
Andy didn’t take home the trophy. But he lasted 9 weeks and proved that a community will carry you further than talent alone. Emma learned that lesson firsthand, and this season the whole cast is learning it with her. I’ll gladly steal it for every client we work with.
If you want help turning your team into a cast your audience roots for, let’s work together. Building communities that convert is at the core of what we do in Brand and Grow.
FAQ
How far did Andy Richter make it on Dancing with the Stars?
Andy Richter and Emma Slater made it to the quarterfinals and were eliminated in Week 9. Their judges’ scores were often near the bottom, but fan votes kept them in the competition.
How does Dancing with the Stars voting work?
Eliminations combine the judges’ scores with the public vote in roughly a 50/50 split. Viewers can cast up to 10 votes per couple.
Why do Dancing with the Stars couples make videos together?
Cross-couple content introduces each couple to the other’s fans. Contestants like Connor Wood and Ezra Frech, and pro Ezra Sosa with Tyler Cameron, have made collab reels that grow the whole cast’s audience instead of splitting it.
How are the judges using social media?
Judges like Carrie Ann Inaba post their own behind-the-scenes and comedic content, including bits based on what fans already say about them online. One example is her video about the song that plays in her head when she sees a lift (the Phantom of the Opera overture).
How much did social media help Dancing with the Stars' ratings?
The Season 34 finale drew 9.24 million viewers, 72 million votes, and 6.9 million social interactions — the franchise’s biggest finale in years. Engagement and viewership grew together, but social media wasn’t the only cause.
How can a small business use this strategy?
Encourage your team to post about their work, share behind-the-scenes moments and personal stories, collaborate with partners, use audience comments as content ideas, and post on a consistent weekly schedule.
