Dancing With The Stars: Dance Types Leading To The Most Eliminations Revealed! (According To 20+ Years Of Data)
Cha-Cha-Cha Has Coincided With the Most ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Eliminations, Analysis Finds
Contestants performing the cha-cha-cha have been eliminated more often than those assigned any other dance style on Dancing With the Stars, based on an ActionNetwork.com review of the show’s first 34 seasons.
The analysis counted 41 eliminations following cha-cha-cha performances, ahead of tango with 33 and paso doble with 32. It reviewed more than 2,800 dance numbers from the competition’s 2005 debut through 2025, covering more than 500 episodes.
The findings arrive ahead of the program’s 35th season, though the results reflect historical correlations rather than evidence that a dance itself determines voting or elimination outcomes.
ActionNetwork.com also assigned negative-point values to bottom-five, bottom-three and bottom-two finishes, as well as eliminations. Under that measure, the cha-cha-cha again ranked as the riskiest style, with 182 negative points. Tango followed with 178 points, while samba ranked third at 169.
Other styles near the top of the elimination count included rumba, with 31, samba with 29, and foxtrot and Viennese waltz, tied at 28.
Quickstep produced the highest number of advances to the following round in the review, at 206. Jive was close behind with 205 progressions, followed by foxtrot with 200. Paso doble, despite ranking third in total eliminations, was associated with 169 advances.
The data set included results such as eliminations, safety, bottom placements, immunity, withdrawals and final placements. For its negative-point ranking, ActionNetwork.com assigned one point for a bottom-five placement, two for bottom three, three for bottom two and four for an elimination.
The analysis excluded performances that did not produce a defined result, including group dances and episodes in which no contestants were sent home. When a performance combined two dance styles, each style was counted separately in the outcome totals, meaning the figures are not a measure of unique couples or individual routines. The underlying data was compiled from Dancing With the Stars Wikipedia pages.