‘DWTS’ Finalist Chandler Kinney Reveals What She Would Have Changed About Her Journey

Michael Maloney November 27, 2024, 2:12 pm

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DWTS stars Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong — ABC

Many fans feel that the pre-dance video packages that are shown on Dancing With the Stars can be just as important in getting viewer votes as the dances themselves are. So did pro Brandon Armstrong and his partner Chandler Kinney (Lethal Weapon), who came in third in one of the show’s most competitive seasons, miss an opportunity to share a little more of themselves with the program’s audience, which could have resulted in gaining more votes?

Armstrong recently shared on Instagram that his connection to DWTS goes back much further than when he joined the show as a troupe member in Season 24 or when he became a pro in Season 27. Way back in Season 6, he appeared and performed on the show as a 13-year-old.

“I’ve always just been a kid chasing a dream and it feels amazing to be living it!” Armstrong posted. “I have been getting a lot of messages of people remembering the time that I spent on the show when I was only 13. I wanna say thank you for all the support you have given me over the years. It’s mean[t] a lot and makes looking back at all the memories and progress that has happened so special.”

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How did his debut as a teen on DWTS come about? “Conrad [Green, executive producer] was the first guy to hire me on the show,” Armstrong told TV Insider. “It was 2006. The show had a junior competition and Conrad was one of the first faces I ever saw. The second was Deena [Katz, co-executive producer] and then, I was hired [as] an adult.”

TV Insider asked Armstrong why that clip, which can be seen below, wasn’t shown in any pre-dance package in order to possibly tug on viewers’ heartstrings. “It didn’t make it,” he responded. “We wanted to make sure that the focus [of our Freestyle] stayed on the message of really standing on the shoulders of people that have come before us. So, we kind of kept in that world.”

“It was a celebration of everyone who came before us,” Kinney concurs. “That transcends the competition for me.”

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“I’m just happy to be here,” Armstrong says. “I really am. It’s a win to be here. I think our freestyle was more important than our placing. Joey [Graziadei, who won] is so deserving. He’s amazing. Hopefully, next year we’ll get after it again.”

“Joey worked his booty off,” agrees Kinney. “I know that because I was in the rehearsal studio. I’m so grateful he won. Every single couple here is so deserving. Honestly, I’m so grateful to be here in this space.”

Just as a pre-dance video package could have included a different side of Armstrong, Kinney says there was unused footage of her journey as well. “I wish the packages had shown my struggle a little bit more,” she says. “Because I did struggle. I cried in many rehearsals. I never wanted it to look easy. The goal is to make it look easy out here on the dance floor.”

“Beyond that,” Kinney says, “I wouldn’t change anything. I was true to myself. I’m doing the [DWTS] tour and it’s going to be fun!”