11 ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestants We Need to Return for Another ‘All-Star’ Season

Whtiney Leavitt, Mark Ballas, Witney Carson, Milo Manheim, Chandler Kinney, Brandon Armstrong
ABC

In 2012, Dancing With the Stars did something it hasn’t done since and brought back 13 previous contestants for another shot at the Mirrorball trophy. The cast consisted mostly of previous winners and finalists, along with two contestants who many felt were eliminated too early on their original seasons. Melissa Rycroft was crowned the winner against runner-up Shawn Johnson and second runner-up Kelly Monaco.

It’s now been 13 years and 19 seasons since we’ve had an All-Star show, and Season 35 seems like the perfect time to bring it back. There have been so many contestants who missed their shot at the Mirrorball simply because the competition on their season was too fierce. Many viewers also feel that there are some competitors who were “robbed” of the win because of fan voting piling on another contestant. Why not give them another shot?!

With Season 34 winding down, we’re looking ahead at who could come back for another chance to take home the Mirrorball. Since there have been SO many seasons since the last All-Star year, it only seems fair to take winners off the table this time around (after all, last All-Star rendition only had 14 previous seasons to choose from, so the pool was much smaller). We’re also going to only focus on the seasons since the OG All-Stars, so Seasons 16 to 34.

Scroll down for our list of DWTS contestants who we think should come back for an All-Star season, and hop into the comments section to let us know if there’s anyone we missed!

Dancing With the Stars, Season 34 Finale, Tuesday, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+

Milo Manheim and Witney Carson
ABC

Milo Manheim

Milo Manheim is, of course, the given. He finished in second place behind the show’s most controversial winner ever, Bobby Bones, in Season 27, and fans are still upset about it to this day. We NEED his redemption season!

Karina Smirnoff, Corbin Ble
Adam Taylor / ©ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Corbin Bleu

After finishing as runner-up on Season 17 against Amber Riley, Corbin Bleu returned for a trio dance with Jordan Fisher in Season 25 … and that’s all we needed to see to know we NEED more of him on this show.

MARK BALLAS, WHITNEY LEAVITT
Disney/Eric McCandless

Whitney Leavitt

We were robbed of what would have been an epic freestyle from Whitney Leavitt when she was eliminated in the Semifinals of Season 34. I think it’s a fair consensus that she was the most talented dancer on the season, but she unfortunately didn’t have the fan votes to make it to the finale. We’re not ready to stop watching her dance yet!

Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong

Chandler Kinney

Chandler Kinney was also a victim of the fan vote in Season 33, where she finished in third place behind Joey Graziadei and Ilona Maher. But she was SO good, and deserves another chance.

Zendaya and Val Chmerkovskiy
Adam Taylor/©ABC/courtesy Everett Collection

Zendaya

OK, having Zendaya back in the ballroom at this point in her career is obviously a long shot, but how epic would that be?! She was just 16 years old when she finished as the Season 16 runner-up, so imagine what she could do today?

Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy
Eric McCandless / ©Disney+/ Courtesy Everett Collection

Gabby Windey

If Gabby Windey had gone up against anyone else, she probably would’ve been a Dancing With the Stars winner. Unfortunately, Charli D’Amelio was just as talented of a dancer, and had her massive internet following behind her, so Windey finished as runner-up on Season 31 and deserves another shot.

Juan Pablo di Pace and Cheryl Burke
ABC

Juan Pablo Di Pace

Is there another contestant in DWTS history who did Latin dances as well as Juan Pablo Di Pace? His fifth place finish on Season 27 was criminal. That man deserved to be a finalist!

JoJo Siwa ad Jenna Johnson
ABC

JoJo Siwa

JoJo Siwa made history when she was cast in the first same-sex pairing on DWTS in Season 30. However, she fell just short of winning the Mirrorball, finishing as runner-up behind Iman Shumpert.

Riker Lynch and Allison Holker
Adam Taylor / ©ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Riker Lynch

Riker Lynch went toe-to-toe with Season 20 winner Rumer Willis on the scoreboard all season long, but came just shy of taking home the Mirrorball.

Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas
ABC

Lindsey Stirling

Look, no one was going to beat Jordan Fisher in Season 25, but runner-up Lindsey Stirling came pretty damn close. Put her against just about anyone else in that finale, and she may have won. Why not test that out and see?

James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess
ABC

James Hinchcliffe

Season 23 runner-up James Hinchcliffe embodied a perfect Dancing With the Stars contestant: someone you’d NEVER expect to be so talented on the dance floor, who ended up working hard and actually … becoming a good dancer. It wasn’t enough to get him the W over Laurie Hernandez, but his journey should not be overlooked.

Dancing With the Stars key art

Don’t Miss All the Twists and Turns!

Get absolutely everything about Dancing With the Stars in your inbox!