Kaitlyn Bristowe’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Snub Explained By ‘DWTS’ Bosses


Kaitlyn Bristowe probably won’t be giving Nick Viall her vote on the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars. Bristowe, who headlined Season 11 of The Bachelorette back in 2015, recently called out The Bachelor producers for stopping her from competing on the ABC celebrity ballroom competition but allowing Nick Viall to do so.

After it was announced that Viall will star on the new DWTS season alongside celebs like Mr. T, Simone Biles, and Real Housewives star Erika Girardi, Kaitlyn Bristowe took to Twitter to express frustration about not being allowed to compete on the show two years ago.

“Actually I was offered it, had the contract & Mike Fleiss told me I wasn’t allowed,” Bristowe tweeted. “He said he didn’t want people wanting fame after his show.”

Fleiss responded that Kaitlyn Bristowe has his full support to join DWTS any time she wants to, to which Bristowe responded that the support was two years too late.

To add fuel to the fire, The Bachelor creator seemingly poked fun at Kaitlyn Bristowe’s claims by pretending to decline his own invite to compete on the show.

While Bristowe and Fleiss’s feud reportedly goes way back (a source told Entertainment Tonight the two never got along), Dancing With the Stars execs are now chiming in to make it clear that they don’t play favorites when it comes to the franchise. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, DWTS executive producers Joe Sungkur and Ashley Edens said it’s not always in the cards for Bachelor alums to compete on their show.

“In some seasons, it works out, and some seasons, it doesn’t. This season we wanted Nick,” Edens told THR.

While Kaitlyn alleges that she was passed over even after she had a DWTS contract in hand back in 2015, the producers maintain that the celebrity lineup isn’t finalized until they are able to pull together a cast as a whole. If too many other reality stars are on the roster, Bachelorette stars like Kaitlyn Bristowe may not make the cut.

While Kaitlyn wasn’t cast, the EPs pointed out that the very first Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, competed on the first season of Dancing With the Stars. Of course, it should be noted that the inaugural DWTS season was a five-week summer session with only six “stars” competing.

Kaitlyn Bristowe’s beef with Nick Viall’s casting comes after several male Bachelor alums landed DWTS contracts. In addition to Viall, former Bachelor stars Jake Pavelka, Sean Lowe, and Chris Soules have all traded their roses for rumbas. Besides Sutter, the only other female alum to compete on the show is Melissa Rycroft.

Bristowe told Entertainment Tonight she spoke out about Viall’s DWTS casting because she thinks it is unfair that female franchise alums aren’t offered the same post-show opportunities as males are.

“I believe men and women should be afforded the same opportunities,” Bristowe said.

“That has not been the case with The Bachelorettes and The Bachelors. I had an offer to do Dancing With the Stars and was told by Mike [Fleiss] I could not. I was told by Mike that it is bad for his brand, and that he is sick of people wanting fame from his show.”

Kaitlyn also said that dancing is her passion and that her fiancé Shawn Booth was in full support of her joining Dancing With the Stars.

“I told Mike it was my passion,” Kaitlyn revealed. “I was told Shawn should be my only passion.”

Chris Soules also confirmed to ET that he had heard that Bristowe had been blocked from doing DWTS.

“I had heard Kaitlyn had been blocked doing [it],” Soules told ET. “I don’t know why they didn’t let Kaitlyn do it. Some things happen in that world that I don’t understand, I’ll never try to.”

While Dancing With the Stars isn’t in Bristowe’s future, something else is. The Canadian beauty recently revealed that she is freezing her eggs so she has more options for motherhood.

“I’m taking control of my future!” Kaitlyn tweeted. “As a woman, there’s always pressure to have babies, and this puts my mind at ease for when I’M ready.”

Take a look at the video below for more on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s beef about Dancing With the Stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9vKJEkkNIw

[Featured Image by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images]

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