"It was a stressful experience" — Zendaya chimes in on her time on Dancing With The Stars

Actress Zendaya recently shared her experience of being part of Dancing With The Stars. She competed in season 16 with dancer Val Chmerkovskiy in 2013 and managed to be the runner-up behind the winning pair, Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough.

In Entertainment Weekly's The Awardist podcast appearance on October 3, Zendaya said that she hadn't watched Dancing With The Stars ever since she had been on the show. The 28-year-old actress commented that she didn't not watch shows of that genre as she was not "the target demographic". She further revealed that her grandma loved watching it.

The Dune actress confessed that it was not the only reason as the overall experience was taxing since she was just 16 at the time.

"I also think it was a very stressful experience. I was like, I don't think I'm gonna be watching this anymore," Zendaya added.

Zendaya started her career in television when she was cast in Disney Channel’s Shake It Up in 2010. She played Rocky Blue, a background dancer on a local show. After her appearance on Dancing With the Stars, her acting career took off as she starred in successful movie franchises, including Marvel's Spider-Man series, Dune saga as Chani, and HBO series Euphoria.

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Zendaya's Dancing With The Stars partner congratulated her on her Emmy win

The year 2020 saw Zendaya become the youngest-ever Emmy winner for a leading role when she took home the trophy for her work in Euphoria. This prompted her Dancing With the Stars partner Val Chmerkovskiy to dedicate an Instagram post to her on September 21, 2020.

Val expressed his content in teaching "a brilliant young woman" 8 years back, referring to their time on the dance reality show. The loss took a big toll on the pair mentally as Val explained that he encouraged Zendaya after the loss.

Val captioned the post:

"Devastated by the loss I remember telling her that one day you’ll be winning an Oscar and part of the reason why will be this feeling of defeat you feel right now. A few L’s will teach you lifelong lessons you’ll turn into dubs real soon.”

He concluded the caption by congratulating the actress for her Emmy win and wished her good luck for future wins.

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What has happened in Dancing With The Stars season 33 so far?

Season 33 of Dancing With The Stars has aired two episodes with the third one pushed to October 7, 2024. This change in schedue is due to the Vice Presidential debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz being broadcast on October 1 on CBS.

The current season features celebrities like Danny Amendola, Jenn Tran, Joey Graziadei, Dwight Howard, Chandler Kinney, Phaedra Parks, Ilona Maher, Brooks Nader, Stephen Nedoroscik, Eric Roberts, and Reginald VelJohnson who are all competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy on Dancing With The Stars.

Anna Delvey and Tori Spelling were also part of the show but were eliminated in episode 2 during the double-elimination night. Tori and her dance partner, Pasha Pashkov, scored 36 points in two weeks with Rumba dance. Anna and dance partner, Ezra Sosa, received a combined 36 points in two weeks.

Anna Delvey made some headlines after she claimed to have learned "nothing" from her experience in the show after her departure. Later, she appeared on Tori Spelling's misSPELLING podcast and dished on her time on the show. Anna stated she "felt like the biggest loser" the show has ever seen."

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Dancing With The Stars season 33 is hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough. Episodes 3 and 4 will air on October 7 and October 8, 2024, on ABC and Disney+.