Julia's Picks for the DWTS S22 Switch-Up

I was going to do a "Thoughts On" post for the first two eliminated couples of the season, but decided to wait for Monday's elimination and do all three between the Week 4 and 5 shows. This way, I was able to do a post on my hopes for the Switch-Up this season, which is what you are about to read right now!

The Switch-Up is next week and despite the fact that so far every time they've had this theme on Dancing With the Stars they told us to vote but then the producers did what they wanted regardless of the results (and this season they've made it even easier for them to get away with it having most of the voting be done privately on the ABC website) I'm going to pretend the opinions of the audience might actually matter here, Usually when it comes to switch-up voting I make my favorites a priority and vote for who I think they would work best with, and everyone else is an afterthought. However, this season was trickier than usual for me because I have five favorite couples and so I tried to pair almost everyone up with someone they'd be likely to do well with.

Nyle is one of the celebrities I'm most concerned about going into the switch-up. Peta has been very innovative in finding ways to teach Nyle. His new partner will not only have to be able to do the same thing, but they will only have a few days to figure it out, while Peta had a few weeks before her first dance with Nyle. In that sense, this will be very much like the Amy Purdy situation back in Season 18. Luckily for Amy, she got a partner that was up to the task and willing to put the extra effort in to not only teach her adequately, but make her shine on the dance floor. I think there are a couple pros who could achieve this with Nyle, but I've been voting for him to be with Karina because she has by far the most experience as a pro on the show and has worked well with all kinds of partners (and also because Maks, who has been working with Nyle and Peta all season is guest judging next week and this pairing would DEFINITELY help avoid any funny business with the scores and would be sure keep him away from the rehearsal studio for the week).

The two options for Nyle's dance for the Switch-Up are both ballroom dances and one of them is the Quickstep. That is a very a difficult style to learn I fell it would be best for him to do it later in the competition and with the pro who already has experience teaching him, so I went with the other one.

Julia's Partner Pick for Nyle DiMarco: Karina Smirnoff
Julia's Dance Pick for Nyle and Karina Viennese Waltz

One thing that seemed to really help Amy and Mark during their Switch-Up week was that Amy's original partner, Derek, was around to give advice if needed. I think this would also greatly benefit Nyle and his new partner. I was originally going to vote for Peta to be Wanyá's professional partner, but then  remembered how often he travels during the week and decided it probably wouldn't be good for Nyle if she spent most of the week away from LA. I also remembered Karina is the ex of Peta's fiancé. Now I'm pretty sure both of these women are professionals and would act as such even if there was any bad blood between them, but just in case there is something that would affect things I've been voting for Peta to be with Doug, so there would be a direct swap between the two couples. Doug needs a pro who is patient and able to come up with choreography to make a contestant who is not as skilled look good on the dance floor. Peta did this very well with Tommy Chong, so I'd like to see what she could do with Doug. And it just so happens that one of Doug's dance style options is one that Peta has been known to create great choreography for!

Julia's Partner Pick for Doug Flutie: Peta Murgatroyd
Julia's Dance Pick for Doug and Peta: Cha-Cha

Doug isn't the only football player I've been worried about lately. Apparently Antonio has only had FIVE HOURS of rehearsal time this week because he keeps filling his schedule with other commitments. On top of this, I've heard that he's been showing up late to rehearsals a lot. I think Witney had the right idea with fining Von for being late, so I'd like to see her with Antonio for a week so she can hopefully do the same with him. Maybe that'll whip him into shape!

For the dance style I chose Samba simply because we haven't seen one from Witney in awhile.

Julia's Partner Pick for Antonio Brown: Witney Carson
Julia's Dance Pick for Antonio and Witney: Samba

Witney seems to have done a pretty good job whipping Von into shape, but his performances thus far have lacked expression and emotion. He needs a pro who can help him improve in that area while still keeping him in line, so I've been voting for him to be with Lindsay for Switch-Up week. I chose Jive for them because it's an upbeat dance so maybe that will get Von to be more animated than he has been during previous dances.

Julia's Partner Pick for Von Miller: Lindsay Arnold
Julia's Dance Pick for Von and Lindsay: Jive

I think Wanyá will do well no matter who his partner is. He seems the most eager to learn out of everyone this season and even if his new partner isn't the best at teaching him technique, he should still be able to "sell" the performance. Like Nyle, Wanyá has two ballroom styles for fans to choose from and I've been voting for the Tango because I think it will allow him to show the audience a side of himself that he has not yet had the chance to.

Julia's Partner Pick for Wanyá Morris: Sharna Burgess
Julia's Dance Pick for Wanyá and Sharna: Tango

When it comes to the women, the only one I'm really worried about for the Switch-Up is Kim. She seems fairly sensitive and is also much shorter than the other women, which could make being paired with one of the taller male pros a bit awkward. I've been voting for Kim and Mark because I think Mark has done a great job with all of his Switch-Up partners and might be able to help Kim stand out from the rest of the pack.

I'm not too concerned with what dance style Kim gets as long as she is well-paired. I think Viennese Waltz is the one that would suit her more, but I'm sure she'd do okay with a Paso Doble as well.

Julia's Partner Pick for Kim Fields: Mark Ballas
Julia's Dance Pick for Kim and Mark: Viennese Waltz

The only other concern I have when it comes to the new female celebrity/male pro partnerships is the fact that Sasha is quite short, and that could certainly lead to some awkwardness if he is matched with someone who would be taller than him while wearing heels. NeNe Leakes and Derek Hough were one of the Season 18 Switch-Up couples, but their style was Jazz so they had more freedom to work around the eight issue. Jazz is not an option for anyone next week, and since all of the other women are about his height or maybe even taller even when not in heels, I have been sending votes in for Paige and Sasha to be paired together. I have a feeling Paige will excel no matter who her partner is (we got a little taste of that when she danced with Alan back in Week 2) and I think she and Sasha would get along very well, but I'd be sort of nervous if one of the other women got him as a partner. (Please keep in mind this is based on height only! I love Sasha and think he is an excellent pro!)

I've been voting for the two of them to dance a Rumba because that's what both Paige and Mark want her to get for Switch-Up week.

Julia's Partner Pick for Paige VanZant: Sasha Farber
Julia's Dance Pick for Paige and Sasha: Rumba

If Paige/Sasha and Kim/Mark indeed become couples for Switch-Up week then I'm honestly not too concerned with who the other women get. I think they'll all do fine no matter who they have. I voted for who I think each might work best with, but I can't really see there being any major personality clashes among them and the remaining male pros. I've been voting for Jodie to have a Quickstep because I think Keo is best with Latin dances and the other option for her is Paso Doble, which is a style I really want to see him finally choreograph! For Ginger and Marla I've been voting for Salsa for them just because I'd like to see how they'd fare with that style.

Julia's Partner Pick for Jodie Sweetin: Val Chmerkovskiy
Julia's Dance Pick for Jodie and Val: Quickstep

Julia's Partner Pick for Ginger Zee: Tony Dovolani
Julia's Dance Pick for Ginger and Tony: Salsa

Julia's Partner Pick for Marla Maples: Keo Motsepe
Julia's Dance Pick for Marla and Keo: Salsa

There is one other factor that will play into who everyone will get as their Switch-Up week partner that I have not yet touched on. After tonight's elimination, only nine couples will remain in the competition. I said last week that I think the couple going home tonight will be Marla and Tony, so if that happens my votes will stay the same except factoring the two of them out of the equation. The other couple I think could be leaving tonight is Doug and Karina, and if that happens there will be a bit of a shift in my votes for the new male celebrity/female pro pairings, though my votes the dance styles for each celebrity will stay the same regardless.

Julia's Switch-Up Couple Picks if Marla & Tony are Eliminated
Antonio & Witney
Nyle & Karina
Kim & Mark
Doug & Peta
Von & Lindsay
Wanyá & Sharna
Jodie & Val
Paige & Sasha
Ginger & Keo

Julia's Switch-Up Couple Picks if Doug & Karina are Eliminated
Antonio & Witney
Nyle & Lindsay
Kim & Mark
Marla & Keo
Von & Peta
Wanyá & Sharna
Jodie & Val
Paige & Sasha
Ginger & Tony

I get that it's unlikely that all of this is going to happen, especially if the producers go the same route as last season and decide not to have any direct swaps between already existing pairs. In all honesty I think most of the celebrities would do a good job with most of the pros, but my main concerns are that:

1) Nyle gets a pro who is willing to put in the effort to teach him properly (I've been voting for Karina but as seen in my alternate scenario I think Lindsay would do well with this too) and Peta gets to stay around LA to help that pro is needed.

2) Kim (and Doug if he stays) gets a pro who is kind and able to help her continue to improve without stressing her out too much, since she seems kind of sensitive and thrives on positive energy.

3) Paige gets Sasha so no one else has to deal with significant height issues.

That's it for now! Feel free to find me on twitter @juliadelbel and tumblr (forevertrueblue) and I'll see you soon for the group review of Disney Night!