Watch:Why John Stamos Turns Down ‘Dancing With the Stars’ “Every Single Season”
Don’t expect to see John Stamos in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom
After all, the Full House alum has no plans to ever be on the ABC dance competition show despite being asked “every single season.”
“I said, ‘Don’t ever ask me again,’” Stamos told season 27 winnerBobby Bones on the July 7 episode of The Bobbycast. “I’m never gonna do that show.”
“What makes that show good is people suffering and looking like fools. They’re breaking their feet, callouses,” the 62-year-old continued. “I don’t want that.”
That said, Stamos still keeps up with the show. In fact, he had a bone to pick with the podcaster for beating out his Fuller House costar Juan Pablo Di Paceto claim the Mirrorball Trophy
“That guy should’ve won that year and you shouldn’t have won,” Stamos quipped to Bones. “He got 10s allthe way across the board, and you came in and somehow won.”
Ribbing that the competition was “rigged,” Stamos jokingly added, “I was gonna call ABC!”
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Bobby Bones Wants His DWTS Mirrorball Trophy Back After Ending Tom Bergeron Feud
But Di Pace, who was eliminated right before the finals that season, isn’t the only one from the Fuller House family to have competed on DWTS. Candace Cameron Bure finished in third place during season 18 in 2014, while Jodie Sweetinplaced sixth just two years later on season 22
Stamos also has history with one of the DWTS judges, having dated Carrie Ann Inaba during the 1990s
“Can you guess which one?” the Grandfathered actor teased, before Bones quipped, “I can guess which ones it wasn’t pretty easily.”
Robby Klein/Getty Images for IMDb
It’s a story previously confirmed by Inaba, who sits on the judging panel alongside Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough
“We did date,” she said during a 2018 episode of The Talk. “When I was a ‘Fly Girl,’ the dreamiest thing happened. Somebody was like, ‘Somebody wants to meet you across the room.’ The room parted and on the other side of the room was John Stamos.”
Though the 58-year-old said their relationship only lasted “for a little while,” she had nothing but kind words about Stamos. As she put it, “He’s the loveliest human being in the whole world.”
For more behind-the-scenes secrets about DWTS, keep reading
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However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.
“That show pays OK,” the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick’s podcast Trading Secrets. “Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it’s like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last.”
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show.”
ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they’re not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.
“You’re guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks,” Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester’s podcast The Morning After. “I think there’s different contracts though. I can’t speak for everybody.”
While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei—says the pros don’t get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there’s still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).
“If you make it all the way to the end, you’re getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale,” she explained on The Morning After. “If you win, it’s not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You’re just getting a cute trophy together.”
On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut “more than in half” when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
“You get no say,” Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers’ Hot Smart Rich podcast. “It’s very much just, ‘Here’s your partner. Make it work.'”
In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.
“They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live,” Jenna said on The Morning After. “They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we’re keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don’t even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner.”
As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?
“It’s based on height, build and personality and compatibility,” former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. “We don’t pair people who aren’t going to get on. It’s too intense. It’s not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn’t do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don’t want to see two people who don’t like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn’t get on so well.”
