Entertainment
What Are The Odds Chris Wins 'DWTS'?
Chris Soules may not be likely to be the most universally well-loved Dancing with the Stars contestant ever, but there's no denying the fact that the announcement that Bachelor Chris Soules was Dancing With The Stars Season 20's mystery contender created quite the stir — after all, what could be better than some crossover between two of ABC's most romantic TV shows? (I'm still not over Meryl and Maks, by the way — or Janel and Val, for that matter. Heck, when it comes down to it, DWTS has probably made and broken at least as many hearts as The Bachelor). That said, it's not the first time such a cross-pollination has occurred — Chris is actually the third Bachelor to be featured on DWTS . That's all good and well as far as stunt-casting goes, but has a Bachelor ever won DWTS' Mirror Ball trophy?
In a word, no (but a certain Bachelorette may have bested the guys)... perhaps this means that Chris can be the first? His dancing skills may look average to sub-par in a recent rehearsal clip with partner Witney Carson (yes, we all noticed that his partner Witney has nearly the same name as his fiance Whitney Bischoff), but she still has a few precious hours to whip him into shape in time for Monday's premiere. After all, Witney is the reigning champ so it isn't completely out of the question that Chris could be the first Bachelor to win big on DWTS.
Let's take a look at past Bachelor contestants and see how he measures up:
Sean Lowe
Sean Lowe, who appeared on The Bachelor Season 17, also happened to make a guest appearance on Dancing with the Stars Season 16. He was paired with Peta Murgatroyd — but alas, he was eliminated sixth, putting him firmly in the middle of the pack of a cast of 12 couples. According to Radar, it also caused a lot of drama for him and then-fiancee/now-wife Catherine Giudici — so watch out, Chris!
Jake Pavelka
Apparently, Jake's been on a whopping six reality TV programs — including Season 14 of The Bachelor and Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars. Like Sean before him, he finished near the middle of the pack, after being eliminated fifth — so yeah, things haven't exactly been the best for dancing bachelors... but how about dancing bachelorettes?
Trista Sutter
Trista starred on the two popular reality programs when they were relatively new — she was on the first season of The Bachelorette, the first season of The Bachelor, and the first season of DWTS (are you sensing a pattern here?). You'd think her cheerleading experience would have come in handy (she cheered for the Miami Heat in the early aughts), but alas, the experience didn't help: She fared worse than her Bachelor brethren, and she got eliminated first. At least she kept that pattern of firsts going?
Melissa Rycroft
Melissa Rycroft is the sole DWTS-meets-Bachelor-Nation success story — unlike Trista Sutter, she used her cheerleading expertise to her advantage (she was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader — a notoriously tough squad to join). She finished third on Season 8, and competed again during the all-star season and won, beating out past champion Olympians like Shawn Johnson and Apolo Anton Ono.
So will Chris pull a Trista and be the first to go home? Or will he make like Melissa and take home that Mirror Ball Trophy? Only time will tell.
