Jenna Dewan talked about her choice to join "Dancing With the Stars" on Wednesday after some fans thought she had an unfair advantage because of her dance experience from "Step Up" and her work with Janet Jackson.
When talking to Entertainment Weekly about her new role on Season 35, Jenna said she wasn’t familiar with ballroom dancing.
She called it a "different" kind of language.
"I do not know how to ballroom dance.
Let's be clear.It's two different languages," she said."There are parts of my dance training that are helpful, obviously.I've learned choreography, I can perform, but there's a certain sense of unlearning for me."
"It's a new technique, brand new technique," she continued.
"It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don't want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I'm used to."
Jenna, who also danced for Justin Timberlake, admitted her dance background made her feel nervous as she starts this competition.
She said ballroom dancing feels "really foreign" to her.
"It's not like you're giving me a style that I've done — I can go out there and do that," she added.
"It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges.But that was part of why I wanted to do it.I really wanted to challenge myself."
Her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, also supported her casting.
"First of all, it's naive to think that this show is just about dance," he said.
"It's about the human experience and the human journey and how much you're willing to reveal yourself.Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people — and I think that's our advantage."
While Chmerkovskiy said Jenna is an "incredible talent," he also warned that "with great talent comes incredible expectation."
Jenna isn't the first celebrity to face questions about being too qualified.
Whitney Leavitt, from "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," was criticized for dancing in college when she competed with Mark Ballas last season.
Harry Shum Jr., another celebrity contestant for Season 35, has also faced similar comments because of his role on "Glee."
Other celebrities joining the show include Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson, Tatyana Ali, Tyler Cameron, Giada De Laurentiis, Ezra Frech, Amber Glenn, Taylor Hanson, Guillermo Rodriguez, Julia Stiles and Connor Wood.
The two-part premiere of "Dancing With the Stars" Season 35 will air Tuesday-Wednesday, September 15-16 on ABC and Disney+.
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