Every weekday leading up to the big premiere we’ll be putting the spotlight on one of the Season 24 couples by introducing the celebrity to readers who may not be familiar with their work and sharing our personal thoughts on the pairing!
We’re getting things started with dancer and actor Heather Morris!
Heather is most famous for her role as Brittany Pierce on FOX’s hit musical comedy TV show Glee! Before she got her big break on the show. Heather trained as a professional dancer, which led to an audition for the show So You Think You Can Dance, and later toured with superstar Beyonce.
In fact, the whole reason she was brought onto Glee in the first place was not to act, but to teach the famous “Single Ladies” dance to the cast. Showrunner Ryan Murphy thought she would be a good fit for the show, so he wrote the role of Brittany S. Pierce just for her!
Glee gave Heather plenty of opportunities to show off her moves to the word…
...and her comedic chops (oh hi, Amber!)…
...and of course, she got to sing a lot as well!
Her most iconic moment on the show was probably when she paid homage to another famous Britney.
Since Glee ended two years ago, Heather has stayed out of the spotlight for the most part. She always said her biggest dream was to marry her husband, Taylor, and have children with him. Well, now she is married to him and they have two children, and I guess she sees this as the time for a return to the spotlight!
Heather’s dance partner will be Maksim Chmerkovskiy, returning for his 16th season in the DWTS ballroom. He won a Mirrorball Trophy back in 2014 with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis, and since then has gotten engaged to fellow DWTS pro Peta Murgatroyd, gone on tour with brother Val, and welcomed son Shai earlier this year!
Some of Maks’ greatest dances in seasons' past include…
@TheBentleyNinja (Paul Bentley): So one of the biggest and most arguments regarding Heather is her experience as a dancer and whether or not she has an unfair advantage in the competition. But here’s my take on it. We’ve had celebrities such as Charlie White, Meryl Davis, and now Nancy Kerrigan compete on the show as professional figure skaters, and since this isn’t the first time a professional dancer has competed for the Mirror Ball Trophy as a contestant, there really isn’t much of a shock that she was casted. Sure, you can argue that figure skaters don’t have as much of an advantage because they have ice skates strapped to their feet, but is it really that big of a difference when you have years of performing experience? But back to Heather.
I’m not too sure what my stance exactly is on professional dancers who do not have ballroom experience competing on the show, but I do know that it has been done before, and since there are a lot of people with dance experience this season, I’m not really all that mad about it. But now that I think of it, isn’t being a backup dancer for Beyoncé kind of the equivalent to casual club dancing, except with a little more choreography and on a stage with millions of people watching? I’m not too sure. But I do think that this hot topic might die down soon if something else major happens on the show. . . maybe another Lochte protestor moment?
I don’t really have a talent for reading people well, and I sure as well don’t want to judge too early, but right now Heather just does not stand out to me like Mr. T and Chris do. She might be a wonderful person- I don’t know. But as it stands now, I don’t have too strong of an opinion about her either way. I hope that changes when the show starts.
So Mr. Maks has Miss Morris this season, huh? That can be pretty interesting, but then again, it might not. In all honesty, sometimes I expect a big thing to come out of a Maks partnership (whether it be good or bad), and I really just end up expecting more than what is really brought to the show. It all just depends on the dynamic between the two. I don’t think there is going to be much drama between the two, especially because Maks has become a teddy bear since his child was born, and Heather doesn’t really have a history of having drama as far as I know. So really, overall, this couple is just a big question mark to me. I don’t know what to expect, which it is sometimes fun to be surprised to see what comes out of this, but I just have this tiny feeling that there really isn’t too much to be excited for. But as always, I hope that I’m proven wrong.
I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying that Heather is probably going to go far in the competition with her dance abilities but then get a surprising elimination toward the end because that’s what usually happens with those people that seem like a clear fit for the final three. But now that people are expecting her to lack votes, is that going to trigger voters into wanting to vote for her to protect her? I think so. Heather isn’t my prediction to win the season at this point, but I feel like she has a strong chance of making it to the finale. But maybe the shocking elimination thing is right...but since so many people are suggesting it, would it really be a shocking elimination?
@dwtsdreams: Heather’s choice to be on the show has been one of the most controversial choices in DWTS history. Many bloggers and inside sources argue that it is not fair for Heather to be on the show or that she will just be handed the win. I disagree with these statements for many reasons.
One, just because heather is a professional jazz/contemporary dancer doesn't mean she call pull out a perfect 40 Argentine Tango. Yes ballroom and Latin is similar to jazz and contemporary but by no means is it the same thing. As a jazz/contemporary dancer myself who later started ballroom, it is very different. The way you carry yourself to to structure and posture of some moves are very different.
We have had so many gymnasts, ice skaters, singers with dance experience, etc on the show and I don't think Heather is any different. I mean every single female celebs has some sort of dance experience or flexibility from ice skating or gymnastics. Simone Biles is a gymnast, Nancy Kerrigan is an ice skater, Erika Jayne dances in her music videos, Normani had dance experience, Charo has some dance experience. In there each individual way every female contestant has some dance experience so I think Heather has just an equal chance than the other contestants.
Heather has many strengths but I think one of her disadvantages will be judging her self. As a dancer in the industry prior to having children, she is under scrutiny from the fans and herself. If sh delivers bad performances the media will say she is a bad dancer and overrated, but if she delivers good performance they will say she is a ringer. I think if she judges herself too hard it will get in her head.
Maks and Heather at first seemed like an unlikely partnership but I am starting to enjoy it. Maks has become an absolute teddy bear/mush ball since Shai has been born. He is so much more energetic than before and I think his new found love for life will fuel his creative juices. Maks will need to produce some killer routines for Heather and I think he will prove how amazing he is. I love Maks so much and I finally think this is the season he can prove he is a great choreographer. The only thing I am worried about with Maks is be preoccupied with the baby. He has stated in interviews that Shai will be with him and Peta and I just hope that he will get enough time with his son and Peta and Heather. Having a newborn is super hard and with both parents working 40 hour jobs sleep deprivation is definitely going to be in their cards.
I am so excited for Heather and Maks’ partnership and I think they will go far!
@juliadelbel: So as I said in the fantasy team draft post, I was an avid fan of Glee during its run and so I’ve been following Heather’s career for years. However, even though I’m part of that fandom I am going to separate my feelings about it from my feelings on Heather doing Dancing With the Stars, just like I did a couple years ago with Riker Lynch, who competed in ballroom as a child. I still maintain that Riker was probably the biggest ringer ever, and that his participation in this competition was kind of unfair. Now, Heather is not specialized in ballroom dance, and based on what little I saw in her So You Think You Can Dance audition, it is not her strong suit. However, ballroom isn’t the only style featured on DWTS anymore and Heather is trained in jazz and contemporary, two styles which have become a regular part of the show. Even without that, the fact that her main profession is dancing makes me uncomfortable with her participation on the show. (For comparison, I was sort of okay with Zendaya doing it because while she did hip-hop dancing, her main profession was acting.)
But let’s be real, no matter how I feel about Heather being part of this competition, the fact of the matter is that she is, so I’ll focus on what that will be like. To start off, from what I know about her personality, I don’t see Maks as a good match for her. Heather seems like a quiet and kind of closed-off person to me, and I don’t think that will gel with Maks’ big, outspoken one. I do think it’s nice that they put parents of young children together, so they’ll bond and understand each other on that front, but I feel like it might take awhile for them to find their groove in a personality sense.
I see Heather and Maks getting good scores, which should be enough to keep them around for at least awhile. They may be a shock elimination, or they may make it to the end, but so far I really don’t see them winning. I am very interested to see what they pull out this season, and also the audience’s reception to them. Has Dancing Withe the Stars finally gone too far off the deep end in ringer casting? I don't know, but I guess we’re going to find out.
TOMORROW: You better, dance, fools!
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