TikTok has taken over the Dancing With the Stars ballroom in recent years — and season 34 is no different.
On Tuesday, September 30, the remaining DWTS couples used social media as inspiration for their performances. TikTok Night featured flawless foxtrots and spicy sambas, but choreography isn’t the only thing being practiced in the rehearsal studio — the duos are also dedicating plenty of time to filming behind-the-scenes content, viral trends and more.
“We plan them out,” Whitney Leavitt exclusively told Us Weekly of her approach to filming TikToks with partner Mark Ballas. “I’ve got a Google Doc. … I’m like, ‘Get ready. Come early tomorrow, we’re gonna bang these out.’”
Ballas, 39, added that they get to the studio “an hour early” to make their videos — and it doesn’t stop there. “At night, we’ll FaceTime each other, like, ‘I found this audio. What do you think?’” he told Us. “So it’s fun, it’s silly. But she has a Google Doc, I have a notes folder.”
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The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star is already a pro when it comes to social media, so TikTok Night felt like the pair’s perfect theme. Leavitt and Ballas earned 24 points for their samba to “Shake Ya Ass” by Mystikal, tying for first place with Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa.
“I feel like it was so suited to her personality,” Ballas said of the routine. “The samba is hard. It’s a different style. So it was interesting to take this TikTok theme and it’s a challenge for all of us. … We’ve never done anything like this.”
Leavitt’s Mormon Wives costar Jen Affleck is also all in when it comes to filming DWTS content — but the competition is fierce.
“I feel like everyone’s killing it with TikTok,” Affleck told Us on Tuesday. “It definitely feels like a requirement at this point. And honestly, it’s what I look forward to every single day.”
Her partner, Jan Ravnik, doesn’t quite feel the same. “He’s like, ‘Let’s dance, let’s grind,’” Affleck teased. “I’m like, ‘Let’s film.’”
While the Mormon Wives come fully prepared with their TikTok ideas, influencer Alix Earle is more spontaneous when filming with pro Val Chmerkovskiy.
“It’s kind of just spur of the moment. I think that’s how I create,” the 24-year-old told Us. “There’ll be times I save sounds [or] whatever, but … I’m actually a terrible planner. I’m a big procrastinator. So everything is kind of just in the moment, and when we’re taking a break from dancing, I’m like, ‘Can we film this?’”
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Going into the week, Earle initially wanted to give her TikTok career a proper shout-out in her quickstep. “I give so much props to Val, because after last week’s show, I called him, and I was like, ‘Someone commented saying we should do a voiceover, saying get ready with me in the beginning,’” she explained. “So I was like, ‘What if we had this idea where we sat at a vanity?’ But … a vanity doesn’t make sense in our dance.”
Actress Elaine Hendrix is also no stranger to the TikTok universe, and she’s totally embracing the trends with pro Alan Bersten.
“I love TikToks because you get to be super creative, and it’s like making little mini movies,” the Parent Trap star told Us. “I’ve had numerous TikToks of mine go viral, [but] my thing is that I’m not always consistent about it. And let me tell you something, there is nothing like doing Dancing With the Stars that is going to make you be consistent.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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