Zendaya still thinks about her 2013 stint on “Dancing with the Stars.” The runner-up on Season 16 of the ABC dance competition series told W in a recent interview that she wished she had not taken the show as seriously as she did at the time.
“I took it very seriously, which, in retrospect, I wish I didn’t,” Zendaya said. “I wish I’d enjoyed it a little bit more and just was like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ You know what I mean? But I was stressing myself out. I really went through it on that.”
The “Challengers” star was ultimately defeated by Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough for the honor of the Mirror Ball Trophy. She danced with Valentin Chmerkovskiy and earned second place over NFL wide receiver Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff.
Zendaya continued, “Listen, I’m still harboring a little animosity about that. I felt that loss. I was only 16 years old, and it was highly stressful. Being on live television every week? It’s so scary.”
Since leaving the show, she has not watched “Dancing with the Stars.”
“I didn’t really watch ‘Dancing with the Stars’ before I was on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” Zendaya said in an interview last October with EW’s The Awardist podcast, sharing that she does not believe she was necessarily the right target audience for the series. “My grandma loves ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ that’s her bag. But yeah, I also think it was a very stressful experience. I was like, I don’t think I’m gonna be watching this anymore.”
News
THE FIRST QUESTION: Officers in Bennington, Vermont say they initially approached Janette MacAusland for a welfare check — but one of the first questions she asked them is now part of the investigative timeline
Wellesley mother charged with murder in children’s deaths due in court Monday. What we knowJanette MacAusland, 49, of Wellesley, is charged with murder in connection with the deaths of her two children on Friday, April 24.Bennington Police Department A Wellesley mother…
THE FIRST QUESTION: Officers in Bennington, Vermont, said they initially approached Janette MacAusland to check on her health — but one of the first questions she asked them is now part of the investigative chain of events
On the evening of Friday, April 24, 2026, officers from the Bennington Police Department in Vermont responded to what appeared to be a routine welfare check at a family residence. The call came in around 9:15 p.m. after a woman…
THE LAST 24 HOURS: Investigators are reprocessing the final 24 hours before the children were found any conscious at their Wellesley home — including a brief interaction this evening that may now be more significant than initially thought
THE LAST 24 HOURS: Investigators Reconstruct the Final Day Before Tragedy Struck the MacAusland Home in Wellesley As the investigation into the deaths of 7-year-old Kai MacAusland and his 6-year-old sister Ella intensifies, authorities are meticulously reprocessing every detail from…
A CALL: Call logs related to Janette MacAusland show a 39-second outgoing call late Friday night — and the identity of the person who answered has yet to be released is complicating the case
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TIMESTAMPS FROM NEIGHBORS: A neighbor near MacAusland’s home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, said they noticed unusual activity around 9:14 p.m. Friday — a timestamp now being compared by investigators with phone and vehicle data — but what they heard was even more horrifying
In the quiet, tree-lined streets of Wellesley, Massachusetts — an affluent Boston suburb known for its top-rated schools and family-friendly atmosphere — one neighbor’s casual observation on Friday, April 24, 2026, has become a critical piece in reconstructing the final…
RELATIVE’S CALL: A relative in Bennington, Vermont was the one who called police after seeing Janette MacAusland arrive late that night — but the first thing she reportedly said inside the house is now drawing attention
On the evening of Friday, April 24, 2026, a quiet residential street on Northside Drive in Bennington, Vermont, became the unlikely starting point for one of the most disturbing cases to cross state lines in recent memory. Janette MacAusland, a…
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