Jenna Johnson Wants Jason Kelce or Demi Lovato as Her Next ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Celebrity Partner

Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Jenna Johnson knows how to entice an audience. That’s partly why she’s been a mainstay of the reality competition series’ recurring cast since 2018. 

After debuting her first season as a part of the pro dancer slate in 2016 with season 23, Johnson returned to the cast for the long haul for the one-of-its-kind all-athletes installment of DWTS and nabbed the mirrorball trophy alongside Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon. 

Since that 2018 win, she’s appeared on the show in consecutive seasons, only missing out on season 31 as she was pregnant with she and her husband (and fellow DWTS pro dancer) Val Chmerkovskiy’s son. Now with the show’s landmark 34th season, Johnson is fresh off her second win, having nabbed the top placement last year with The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei. 

“I will never forget that,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter of her win with Graziadei. “You don’t get partners like that often, [where] it just feels so meant to be. It just meant so much to me.”

In between rehearsals with her season 34 partner, The Goonies and The Lost Boys star Corey Feldman, Johnson reflects on the premiere of the new season, the show’s growing virality and which celebrities she’d like to be partnered up with on DWTS in the future. 

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Corey Feldman is an established actor. What was your reaction when he walked in the room and you learned he was going to be your partner? 

He is an icon, and when he came in with the sunglasses on, I was like, “Oh yes, he means business.” One of my favorite things about Corey is his energy, and he comes into the room with that charisma and that energy. I really love that, and I want to make sure that I highlight that [in] each dance that we do, because it is so special about him. He’s really electric on the dance floor and in our rehearsal space.

What was it like hitting the stage with Corey Feldman for the first time last Tuesday? 

I’m always curious how my partner is going to respond in that situation, because it is really intimidating and so scary to go live. But I was just so impressed with Corey. I mean, he is a performer. He is a showman, and he put on a full performance [on Tuesday] night. I was just so proud of him. I love that he showed up, he was giving facials and energy, and that is everything that I asked for.

As the reigning winning pro dancer, do you feel pressure going into a new season? How do you approach going into a new season with a new partner after having just won?

I definitely am grateful to have that title and be the reigning champion, but I approach every season with a clean slate. It’s a new experience, a new partner, a new journey, so I just really want to be focused on that. But it has been so much fun to have my past partner, Joey Graziadei, in the ballroom. He’s the host of the Dancing with the Stars podcast, so it’s been really fun to still see him on set and be like, “Oh my goodness, that happened.” But yeah, it’s definitely a different approach each season and with a new partner.

This season your niece, Hailey Bills, joined the troupe. You were her mentor on Dancing with the Stars Junior, but what has it been like sharing this experience on Dancing with the Stars together so far? 

It is truly a dream come true for our family. The fact that I not only get to have my husband [Val Chmerkovskiy] on set, which is very niche and not a lot of people get to experience that, but to then have my beautiful niece, and this has been her dream, to be on Dancing with the Stars one day. And to even be going to rehearsals together and looking over and seeing her, I’m just so proud. I cannot wait for the world to get to see her dance and perform and fall in love with her. My sister, who’s Hailey’s mom, was in the audience [last Tuesday] night, and all of us just couldn’t stop crying. It was just like, “How did we get here, these two girlies from Utah?” And I’m not sure we’ve ever had that sort of relationship [between aunt and niece] be able to perform on the show together, so it’s very special.

Previously, you won the athletes season, but that was a condensed [four-week long] season. What did it mean for you to win in a full regular season with Joey last year? He’s also the first Bachelor to win Dancing with the Stars.

It meant the world. Because, yes, I won the athletes season, but it was that shortened season, so I was hungry for that 10-week win. And then to be paired with somebody like Joey, who was so invested in the journey in the competition and to make history together, well, it was just insane. Like every dream come true. I will never forget that. You don’t get partners like that often, [where] it just feels so meant to be. And we became really great friends in the process. It just meant so much to me. 

You’ve had so many dances go viral, but last year, your Tarzan dance from Disney night had the internet going crazy. When you choreograph in this new age of the show that is dominated by social media, do you think about, “Maybe this part of the dance will go viral?” Does that go into your choreography process at all? 

It doesn’t, because I want something to go viral on its own, in an authentic way. I think when you try to force something choreographically, it never really hits as much as just doing your best work and being inspired and creative in the moment, and then being pleasantly surprised when people are just attracted to a section. And that’s kind of what happened with the Tarzan dance last year. I had absolutely no idea that it would have the impact that it did, and that section in particular was a really hard section for me that I couldn’t figure out musically. Joey and I just sat in the studio one day and we played that section over and over and over again, and we were like, “You know what? Let’s just have fun with this part. Let’s not stress over it, and let’s do something that feels good for us, that we’re going to enjoy performing live.” And it kind of just did its thing. I love that TikTok is loving the dancing that we’re doing and picks up certain things and makes them a trend, but I don’t want that to be the sole focus for me when I go into creating a new routine. [Writer’s note: Jenna and Joey’s Disney Night Samba has 4.5 million views on TikTok.]

You and JoJo Siwa made history in season 30 as the first same sex couple on the show. Moving forward, would you be open to competing in a same sex couple again? And if you had your choice, what woman would you want to be partnered up with on the show?

I would absolutely, in a heartbeat, dance with a woman again. That was one of my most cherished seasons, getting to know JoJo but getting to do the dancing that we did was just so meaningful for me. It was a very different experience, and I loved that. It pushed me creatively. If I were to pick a celebrity, I’m gonna go [with] Margot Robbie. Who else would be epic in the ballroom? Demi Lovato. I would love to be partnered with Demi Lovato in a heartbeat.

Do you have a dream celebrity partner that you would love to work with in the future, other than [Margot or Demi]?

I would say Jason Kelce. I think he would be hysterical. I think he would shock people, and I think he would just have infectious energy in the ballroom. I think people would love to watch his journey on the show.

In reality TV, various shows have done all-winner seasons. We’ve seen it on Survivor and RuPaul’s Drag Race. With the idea of a potential winner’s season of Dancing with the Stars, is that something you see the show potentially doing in the future? And would you partake, with Joey or Adam?

Oh, absolutely, in a heartbeat. I would love to do it with both of them. I’m like, “Can we do trio nights every week?” But I think it would be such a great idea. They’ve done an all-star season once, but we need to do [an all-winners season]. We’ve got to get the winners back in. It would be so fun to see them back in the ballroom. And I think the dances would just be even more elevated since they already know the ropes of the show. It would be a battle, it would be so entertaining to watch. We got to do it.

Season 35!

Yes, here for it. 

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New episodes of Dancing with the Stars season 34 air and stream on ABC and Disney on Tuesday at 8 p.m., and stream the next day on Hulu. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.