Joey Graziadei, Jenn Tran, and every Bachelor star who's competed on Dancing with the Stars

When it comes to Dancing with the Stars, ABC’s hit series has become known for its typecasting. From NFL legends to Disney stars, the long-running show has a history of checking off certain boxes when it comes to casting new seasons. Among the recurring players that have become a mainstay on the show are members of The Bachelor and Bachelorette casts, with Dancing with the Stars often looking to the stars from its sister series for its cast. 

Over the years, ABC has cast a handful of Bachelor Nation alums on the show including its most recent season, Season 33, which made history for becoming the first season of Dancing with the Stars to feature two Bachelor franchise leads. That’s right, Joey Graziadei and Jenn Tran are making Dancing with the Stars history becoming the first Bachelor Nation leads to compete against one another in a season! 

Graziadei and Tran are the latest in a long line of Bachelor Nation favorites to compete, a tradition that actually dates all the way back to the first season of Dancing with the Stars when Trisha Sutter took to the ballroom as part of the inaugural cast. Since then, there have been a handful of Bachelor and Bachelorette alums to follow in her footsteps, with several Bachelor Nation alums even taking home the Mirrorball Trophy! 

Join us in looking back at the Bachelor Nation alumni who have competed in Dancing with the Stars over the years. 

Trisha Sutter

It seems only fitting that the first Bachelorette was on the first season of Dancing with the Stars as well! Sutter competed on the debut season of ABC’s hit series alongside pro Louis van Amstel, though fortune was not on their side as the pair were the first couple to be eliminated from the show. 

Melissa Rycroft 

After failing to find love in season 13 of The Bachelor starring Jason Mesnick, Melissa Rycroft made her way to the ballroom in season 8 where she competed alongside pro Tony Dovolani. The pair became a favorite with audiences and made it all the way to finale night where they finished in third place to Giles Marini & Cheryl Burke who placed second, and Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough who won the season. 

A few years later, Rycroft returned in season 15 for the show’s All-Stars season, once again teaming up with Dovolani as part of a cast filled with former winners, finalists, and fan favorites from over the years. Rycroft once again made it to the finale in season 15, but this time fortune was on her side as she became the first Bachelor Nation alum to win Dancing with the Stars beating out several returning winners including Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey, Helio Castroneves, Apolo Anton Ohno, Emmitt Smith, and Shawn Johnson. 

To date, Rycroft remains the only Bachelor Nation alum to compete on two seasons of the Dancing with the Stars. 

Jake Pavelka

After leading the fourteenth season of The Bachelor, Jake Pavelka took to the ballroom to compete as part of the Dancing with the Stars season 10 cast. Pavelka teamed up with Chelsie Hightower, but unfortunately dancing wasn’t quite his strong suit and he finished the season in seventh place. 

Sean Lowe

The Bachelor season 17 lead, Sean Lowe followed up his run as Bachelor by joining the Dancing with the Stars season 17 cast. While Lowe and partner Peta Murgatroyd became favorites with the fans, Lowe wasn’t quite as skilled as his competitors and the pair came short of making it to the finale with a sixth-place finish. 

Chris Soules

Chris Soules might not have been the most popular Bachelor lead, but with help from Witney Carson, he became one of the most successful Bachelor leads to compete on the show. Soules and Carson managed to make it to a fifth-place finish in season 20 of Dancing with the Stars, with Soules’ fifth-place finish remaining the best finish for a Bachelor thus far on the show. 

Nick Viall

In Dancing with the Stars season 24, The Bachelor season 21 lead Nick Viall showed off his dance moves with help from Peta Murgatroyd. The couple had amazing chemistry, but sadly Bachelor Nation’s votes were not enough to help Viall take home the Mirrorball Trophy. He finished his season in a tie for sixth place, going home in a double elimination alongside figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. 

Joe Amabile

While Joe Amabile’s time on season 14 of The Bachelorette didn’t exactly go the way he hoped, with Becca Kufrin sending him home in Week 1, Amabile won over the hearts of Bachelor Nation and landed a ticket to Bachelor in Paradise season 5 that ultimately landed him a spot in the season 27 cast of Dancing with the Stars. 

As lovable as Amabile was on the show, his dancing skills never quite evolved but that didn’t stop the fans from voting him and his partner Jenna Johnson to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, due to his low judges’ scores, Amabile was eliminated in a double elimination coming in at 5th place. Still, his performance on the show is one of the best among the men of the franchise and he remains the only non-lead to compete on a season of Dancing with the Stars. 

Hannah Brown

More than 10 seasons after Melissa Rycroft took home the Mirrorball in season 15’s All-Star seasons, The Bachelorette season 15 lead Hannah Brown became the second Bachelorette to win Dancing with the Stars. Brown and her partner Alan Bersten walked away with the Mirrorball in season 28 of Dancing with the Stars, defeating Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson (second), Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber (third), and Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko (fourth). 

Kaitlyn Bristowe

Typically, ABC has cast The Bachelor and Bachelorette leads as part of the Dancing with the Stars cast directly after their season has aired. This allows ABC to pull in the freshest face of the franchise and give Bachelor Nation a reason to tune in, but in season 29 of Dancing with the Stars, the network took a different approach when casting The Bachelorette season 11 lead Kaitlyn Bristowe. 

The move paid off both for ABC and Bristowe, who managed to waltz her way to finale night alongside her partner Artem Chigvintsev and walk away with the Mirrorball! 

Matt James

After a rocky season that ended in controversy, The Bachelor season 25 lead Matt James took to the ballroom as part of the Dancing with the Stars season 30 cast. While James was just as charming and loveable on Dancing with the Stars as he was on The Bachelor, he didn’t quite have the moves and he and his partner Lindsay Arnold were eliminated in twelfth place. 

Gabby Windey

Hot off her role as The Bachelorette season 19 co-lead, Gabby Windey made her way to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom to compete alongside Val Chmerkovskiy in season 31 of the series – the first season of the series that did not air on ABC and streamed exclusively on Disney+. Just as she won over the hearts of Bachelor Nation, Windey won over the Dancing with the Stars fans and almost walked away with the Mirrorball, finishing second on the season to Charli D’Amelio.  

Charity Lawson

Season 20 Bachelorette lead Charity Lawson got to fulfill her dream of competing on Dancing with the Stars after her time as Bachelorette came to a close when she was cast for season 32. Teaming up with pro Artem Chigvintsev, Lawson made quite a run on the show making it all the way to finale night where she placed fourth overall with Marvel star Xochitl Gomez taking him the Mirrorball. 

Joey Graziadei

Following what has been hailed as the best season ever of The Bachelor, season 28 lead Joey Graziadei joined the Dancing with the Stars season 33 cast alongside pro-Jenna Johnson. Graziadei hopes to become the first Bachelor to win the show and he’s got a good shot at making history as Bachelor Nation hs fully behind him and he’s got an amazing partner in Johnson. Either way, he’s already made history by becoming the first Bachelor lead to compete during the season with a Bachelorette lead, with The Bachelorette season 21 lead Jen Trann also competing in season 33. 

Jenn Tran

Hot off the emotional and heart-breaking end of her Bachelorette journey in season 21 of ABC’s long-running show, Jenn Tran is hoping to walk away with the Mirrorball in season 33 of Dancing with the Stars with help from pro Sasha Farber. Trann is the first Bachelorette lead to compete against a Bachelor lead and hopes to best Joey Graziadei by taking home yet another Mirrorball for Bachelor Nation. 

Every Bachelor and Bachelorette contestant who has competed on Dancing with the Stars

• Trisha Sutter (Season 1) 
• Melissa Rycroft (Seasons 8 and 15) - Season 15 Winner
• Jake Pavelka (Season 10) 
• Sean Lowe (Season 16)
• Chris Soules (Season 20)
• Nick Viall (Season 24)
• Joe Amabile (Season 27)
• Hannah Brown (Season 28) - Season 28 Winner 
• Kaitlyn Bristowe (Season 29) - Season 29 Winner
• Matt James (Season 30) 
• Gabby Windey (Season 31) 
• Charity Lawson (Season 32) 
• Jenn Tran (Season 33) 
• Joey Graziadei (Season 33) 

To recap, over the years there have been 14 stars from Bachelor franchise series to compete on Dancing with the Stars, but luck has definitely been on the side of The Bachelorettes and not The Bachelors. A Bachelor lead has yet to win the series, while three Bachelorette leads have taken home the Mirrorball Trophy over the years with several others making it to finale night.