What to Know
Dancing With the Stars is a dancing competition, but it’s often described as a popularity contest as well. That might explain Whitney Leavitt’s elimination from the show, even though many fans of the show appreciated her technical skill and her memorable dances.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star has consistently been characterized as the reality show’s “villain,” and in spite of her interesting dances, it seems like people could not see past that.
But some people also suspect that Whitney’s openness about doing reality TV for personal gain could’ve played a role in her premature exit from DWTS.
On SLOMW, Whitney admitted that she returned to get on DWTS.
While it’s probably a fair assumption that most people who appear on reality television do it for money and fame, Whitney actually openly admitted that her own personal ambitions motivated her to return to the show. Season three of SLOMW came out just days before Whitney was sent home from DWTS on Tuesday, November 18.
Given the timing, some fans of the show have a hard time believing that this was a mere coincidence. After all, Whitney mentioned DWTS on SLOMW — and admitted that she only came back in hopes that it would help her land a spot on the dancing show.
SLOMW follows MomTok, a group of Mormom mom friends who are also influencers. Whitney has been a controversial member of the group for some time now, as she has left multiple times.
Admitting that she came back just for DWTS rubbed people the wrong way.
In a confessional on SLOMW, Whitney said, “After last season, I did decide to step away from the show, but I never quit MomTok. I was always in MomTok, still a part of that group. I just really needed a break, but then I heard from my team Dancing with the Stars was going to cast someone from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and that’s a motivator. I’ll come back for that.”
Although some people enjoyed her DWTS performances so much that they were willing to give Whitney the benefit of the doubt, comments like these might’ve influenced their overall perception. Some fans of SLOMW admitted that Whitney “can dance,” but they still couldn’t bring themselves to support her.
“EVERYTHING Whitney Leavitt does is calculated,” one person wrote on Reddit. “A few rhinestones, dance moves, and witty TikTok’s has everyone second guessing what was so clear in the first 2 seasons. Whitney is the villain.”
One of her fellow DWTS cast members defended her.
Comedian Andy Richter didn’t see Whitney as a villain, but also doesn’t think she went home due to her dancing. “I think Whitney going home, to me it’s absolutely insane,” Andy told Entertainment Weekly. “I mean, she’s an amazing dancer. And if all the sticklers who were furious about me still being in it, who were demanding perfect technical dancing, I don’t know why she would get sent home under that criterion.”
Andy described Whitney as “one of the sweetest, most positive loving people on that show.” But he also knew that for some reason, some viewers couldn’t wait for her to be eliminated.
“There’s a whole soap opera going on adjacent to this show online,” Andy explained. “It’s a good way to sort of take the temperature of what the audience is feeling in terms of voting. I’ve seen forever, there’s like people just like, ‘Whitney’s gotta go,’ and I’m just like, ‘What? Why?'”
