The debut of Dancing With the Stars season 34 has officially come and gone, and in true premiere night fashion, it’s safe to say that viewers saw the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to its performances.
One routine that stunned viewers and judges alike, though, was Hilaria Baldwin and Gleb Savchenko’s spicy-as-can-be Cha Cha to “Let’s Get Loud” by Jennifer Lopez, causing fans unexpectedly deem them early frontrunners of the competition.
For those who are unfamiliar with Baldwin, while described as an “author and wellness influencer,” she is also a mother of seven and the wife of award-winning actor Alec Baldwin. As far as her accolades go, her official DWTS biography is as follows:
“Hilaria Baldwin is an entrepreneur, host and author. She was the Host of The Baldwins, a reality show on TLC about the behind-the- scenes look at her and Alec’s lives with seven children. She’s also the author of Manual Not Included, Glowing Up: Recipes to Rock Your Natural Beauty with her daughter Carmen, and The Living Clearly Method. Hilaria lives in NYC with her husband and seven kids.”
As for Baldwin’s professional dance partner, Savchenko became a rather controversial character after his antics during last season of DWTS, having an “on-again, off-again” relationship with his partner — model and covergirl Brooks Nader — that allegedly ended in him being unfaithful. Becoming a major plot point in Nader’s new reality television show, Love Thy Nader, it is safe to say that the 42-year-old wasn’t in the good graces of fans when the DWTS season 34 cast was announced.
Amid this controversy, it was also revealed that Baldwin has professional dance experience — allegedly trained in ballroom — leading to opinions that her being cast on the show is “unfair” to the other contestants.
Needless to say, the duo did not have much support heading into the competition…
Because of this, fans took to social media to argue that Baldwin and Savchenko should be eliminated first — encouraging viewers not to vote for the pair — but after showing off some stellar dancing skills, said fans have seemingly had a change of heart.
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During the DWTS season 34 premiere, the duo earned an impressive score of 14 out of 20 for their performance, placing them second on the leaderboard after Robert Irwin and Witney Carson and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas tied for first.
Related: Who Went Home on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Tonight? A New Season Has Arrived!
To follow, the official DWTS Instagram account shared some snaps from their Cha Cha, captioning the post, “Come on people, let’s get loud for Hilaria and Gleb’s Cha Cha! 💚 Incredible way to start their season. #DWTS”
“Get loud” is exactly what viewers did, sharing how much they “actually” love Baldwin in the comment section of the post:
- “OKAAAAY WE DID NOT EXPECT THIS”
- “Wait I actually really like her, can we keep her a few weeks pls?”
- “Here for people giving Hilaria a chance 😌 I KNEW she was gonna be good 👏🏻”
- “She was the strongest performer! Looked like one of the pros! She deserves the highest score! You go girl 👏”
- “Wow they absolutely ate!! My team!! Best dance!! They absolutely killed it”
Others took a different approach. Instead of complimenting Baldwin, they complimented how great of a dancer Savchenko is when his eyes stay on the prize:
- “It’s nice to remember how good of a dancer Gleb is when he’s not just flirting with his partner”
- “One thing about Gleb, i really appreciate how his choreo showcases his partners”
- “Definitely can see Gleb redeeming himself this season!!!”
Seemingly in it for the right reasons this time around, will Savchenko manage to take home the coveted Mirrorball Trophy alongside Baldwin? To find out for yourself, tune into brand new episodes of DWTS season 34 Tuesdays via ABC or Disney Plus.
