‘DWTS’: Fans Aren’t Happy About Nev Schulman’s Prior Dance Experience
Nev Schulman, the host of the hit MTV show Catfish, has been one of the best competitors on Dancing with the Stars so far this season. Schulman’s impressive performances have helped him consistently score well through the first four weeks, as he looks like an early front-runner to win season 29. However, some fans are not too thrilled with Schulman. This is because he seems to be downplaying his prior dance experience.
Nev Schulman has performed well on ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Schulman has performed extremely well so far on this season of Dancing with the Stars.
During the first week, Shulman — who is partnered with Jenna Johnson — danced the foxtrot. He ultimately earned a 20 out of 30.
Schulman then took it a step further during the second week, as he and Johnson danced the cha-cha, and ended up scoring a 21, before scoring a 24 during the third week while dancing the Argentine tango. In the fourth week, Schulman’s rumba earned him another 24.
He has certainly proven that he is one of the contestants to beat this season.
He has prior dance experience
Having prior dance experience before coming on to the show is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the show has not really addressed Schulman’s past, while former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe has been open about her dance background.
According to Vulture, Schulman was a dance student at Sarah Lawrence College, but got into an altercation with another student during his junior year. The school then did not allow him to return and complete his degree. Schulman was reportedly in another student’s dance project, though, and was allowed to return to campus for the performance.
So, while it has been reported that Schulman studied dance, he recently addressed his background on Dancing with the Stars‘ Instagram story.
“So there have been some rumors about how much dance experience I had coming into this,” Schulman said, according to Yahoo. “I’ve been very open about it. When I was in fifth grade I started dancing with an organization. It was not formal training, it was not ballroom or ballet or even jazz, it was just youthful kind of kid performance movement.”
He went on to say that it was a dance troupe.
“I danced with them for three or four years, and then casually here or there through high school and a little bit in college, took a couple dance classes but never really pursued it seriously or danced at any kind of competitive level,” Schulman said, per Yahoo.
There is a chance that Schulman might be downplaying his experience. Even his fellow contestant Skai Jackson mentioned his experience when asked about who her biggest competition is.
“Probably Nev because he went to school for dance and has so much experience. He’s amazing,” Jackson tweeted.
Fans are annoyed by Nev Schulman downplaying his dance experience
Many fans aren’t too thrilled about Schulman not bringing up his prior dance experience on the show.
“I think it’s unfair to highlight some contestants’ dance background while completely ignoring others,” one Reddit user said. “This information totally changes how the judges and the viewers perceive each contestant’s performance.”
The biggest issue among fans, though, appears to be the downplaying of his background, not the dance experience itself.
“I personally don’t care about the dance experience,” a Reddit user said. “What’s bothering me it’s just the way that he’s handling it. But then again like I said I don’t care about him having the dance experience I’m not even voting for him.”
Some fans have even made jokes about the situation by making references to his show, Catfish, which catches people who aren’t forthcoming about who they really are.
“Soooooooo he’s catfishing DWTS,” a Reddit user said.
There have been some, however, to stand up for him.
“Everyone is being so hard on Nev but it’s forgotten that the producers of this show are in total control and if they wanted us to focus on his dance experience then we would know about it,” a user said on Reddit. “Clearly they are trying to frame him as something else.”
Whether his experience is actually helping him or not, it seems that fans just want Schulman and the show to address his dancing background.
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