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Over 40 years since She’s So Unsual rocked the Billboard charts, Cyndi Lauper is still inspiring new generations of pop stars — take Chappell Roan‘s word for it.
Ahead of inducting Lauper into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, Roan took a moment to reflect on the different ways the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer inspired her approach to pop music and performance.
“I’m so excited to be inducting Cyndi Lauper into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Roan says in the clip, which was posted to the Hall’s official Instagram page and featured Lauper leaving heart-eye emojis in the comment section. “She has inspired me with her fashion, her hair, of course, her makeup, her music. I actually auditioned with ‘True Colors’ for America’s Got Talent when I was 13! I didn’t make it, but the song is still incredible.”
Roan, who achieved a culture-shifting breakthrough in 2024, bears several musical and aesthetic similarities to Lauper. “Hot to Go,” a Hot 100 top 20 hit (No. 15) from her smash debut album Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, pulls directly from Lauper’s relentless synthpop playbook. Plus, both singers are also winners of the prestigious best new artist Grammy; Lauper won in 1985 and Roan followed four decades later in 2025.
After the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where Roan mounted a Joan of Arc-themed performance of “Good Luck, Babe,” Lauper praised the breakout star’s “performance art.” “And it’s visual, it’s so visual,” she added during her appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live (Sept. 15, 2024). “You know I love those visual things, obviously.”
Though Chappell has yet to release her sophomore studio album, she visited the Hot 100’s top 10 twice this year with two new songs. While the country-tinged “The Giver” reached No. 5, “The Subway,” a sweeping ballad, reached No. 3, marking the highest-peaking Hot 100 entry of her career so far. Following Lauper’s Rock Hall induction, Roan will play the final show of her Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things Tour at Mexico City’s Corona Capital Festival on Nov. 14.
Earlier this month (Oct. 5), Lauper’s Hollywood Bowl-set Grammy Salute special aired on CBS and Paramount+, featuring performances from Joni Mitchell, Cher, John Legend, SZA, and, of course, Lauper herself. On Oct. 6, Lauper announced her first-ever residency, which will commence in April 2026 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Check out Chappell Roan’s sweet tribute to Cyndi Lauper here.
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Travis Kelce had a big reason to do a happy dance at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Washington Commanders game on Monday (Oct. 27) — especially with Taylor Swift in the crowd.
After scoring his 100th career touchdown — and his 83rd regular-season touchdown, which tied him with Priest Holmes for the most in the Chiefs’ history — the tight end appeared to replicate his famous fiancée’s “The Fate of Ophelia” choreography in the end zone. Similar to Swift in the music video for the Billboard Hot 100-topping track, Kelce closed his hands into fists and waved his arms up and down in celebration, meanwhile the 14-time Grammy winner excitedly cheered for him from her box suite in the upper level of Arrowhead Stadium.
“He really gave us the whole dance (TD version) AND IM SO GRATEFUL,” one Swiftie wrote on X, sharing a clip of the triumphant moment.
“Omggg he even did the ‘I pledge allegiance’ part??” another fan pointed out, referencing the “Ophelia” lyric, “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.”
The account for Travis and older brother Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast also shared a photo of the Grotesquerie star’s big catch and wrote, “Keep it [100] on the land, the sea, and the end zone,” another reference to Swift’s lyrics.
Travis’ milestone comes as the Eras Tour headliner’s new album, The Fate of Ophelia, is spending its third straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The project’s success is thanks in part to the virality of “The Fate of Ophelia,” which sparked a TikTok dance trend after Swift shared videos on the app of herself and her dancers doing the choreography.
Despite her busy album rollout, the pop star has been in attendance at her fiancé’s games throughout the season. At Monday’s match-up, she sported a red turtleneck, a matching leather skirt and heeled boots as she watched the game alongside Brittany Mahomes, who is married to quarterback Patrick Mahomes. At one point, Swift acted out swooning, possibly in response to something Travis did on the field.
Of scoring his record-tying touchdown — which also made him the fifth tight end in NFL history to ever reach three digits in TDs — Travis told press shortly after the game, “I just cherish these moments, man, being able to play at Arrowhead.”
“This place is special, man, and I love it here,” he added. “In terms of the historical stuff, I’m still looking at the next game and the next catch and trying to get better.”
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On charts dated Aug. 8, 2020, Taylor Swift made two of the grandest entrances in Billboard history.
That week, her album Folklore launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and “Cardigan,” from the set, bounded in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dating to the charts’ starts in 1956 and 1958, respectively, it marked the first time that an artist had debuted atop Billboard’s premier album and song charts simultaneously.
(Swift reacted to the feat at the time by posting a GIF of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the movie San Andreas, simply marveling, “Oh my God.”)
What started as record-establishing soon became record-extending for Swift, who has upped her career count to seven simultaneous arrivals at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 through the charts dated Oct. 18, 2025, when The Life of a Showgirl and “The Fate of Ophelia” began at the summits of both surveys.
To date, artists have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 together 17 times, with Swift’s seven such starts followed by Drake’s three. Zach Bryan, BTS, Future, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo and Morgan Wallen having crowned both rankings simultaneously upon their bows one time each.
Meanwhile, Swift is the only act to maintain commands of the charts in those instances beyond their first weeks, with Midnights and “Anti-Hero” spending their first two weeks at No. 1 in 2022, while The Tortured Poets Department and “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, repeated the achievement in 2024. In November 2025, The Life of a Showgirl and “The Fate of Ophelia” made for the first occurrence of an artist debuting at No. 1 on the tallies simultaneously and holding in their top spots for three straight weeks.
Here’s a look at all the times that artists have made Billboard 200 and Hot 100 debuts twice as nice, opening at No. 1 on the charts side-by-side. (Helping the chances of the honor, artists have more commonly not released preview singles from albums, instead opting to premiere sets in their entireties all at once, in recent years.)
Taylor Swift
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At September’s MTV Video Music Awards, a question about Mariah Carey‘s music videos stumped the members of KATSEYE. Just in time for Halloween, the fast-rising pop group has done its homework.
On Tuesday (Oct. 28), KATSEYE dropped a Halloween-themed music video for “Gabriela,” which peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang kicks off the video spoofing Billboard’s Kyle Denis. “We’re honoring Mariah Carey tonight,” he says. “Do you guys have a favorite Mariah Carey music video? We’ll go one by one — I feel like everyone’s got one!”
When Denis asked KATSEYE the question on the real-life VMAs red carpet on Sept. 7, the KATSEYE members answered with blank stares before quickly coalescing around Lara Raj’s answer of her favorite song — “either ‘Obsessed’ or ‘My All’.” In the “Gabriela” music video’s version of events, Yang’s question gives way to a fashion show featuring the group members modeling Carey’s most iconic music video looks. Daniela delivers a roller rink-ready “Fantasy” fit, Lara Raj bares some skin for her “Obsessed” costume, Sophia nails her sailor-themed take on “Honey,” Manon pulls a gorgeous wedding dress in honor of “We Belong Together,” Yoonchae dons a picture-perfect “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Mrs. Claus bodysuit and Megan brings everything home with a “Heartbreaker” costume that helped Yang introduce Bianca, Carey’s beloved music video alter ego.
How does Bianca fit in? According to Yang, “Bianca … really is the ultimate ‘Gabriela.’” From there, KATSEYE launches into a dance performance of “Gabriela,” with each member flaunting their very own Rainbow tank top to pair with their white booty shorts and black knee-high boots.
“I just asked a very simple question, but, go off, KATSEYE,” Yang concludes the video. “You clearly know and love Mariah Carey. Well, that was six eras, one lamb-approved carpet. Happy Halloween, EYEKONS!”
In addition to proving their Mariah Carey fandom, the new “Gabriela” music video also brings the group’s VMAs debut full circle in another way. At this year’s ceremony, where the ladies won push performance of the year, KATSEYE performed a medley of their Hot 100 hits, “Gnarly” and “Gabriela,” at the pre-show.
Check out KATSEYE’s Halloween-themed “Gabriela” music video below:
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The wins keep coming for RAYE. The singer shared that her stolen car has been recovered, with her songwriting books “untouched.”
In an Instagram post last fall, the south London-raised artist revealed that the vehicle containing the books had been stolen on her birthday, adding, “there would be no second album anytime soon.” She shared the news along with a picture of a cake with the words “sorry ur car got stolen” written on it.
At the time, RAYE (real name Rachel Keen) had been working on the follow-up to her multi-BRIT Award-winning debut, My 21st Century Blues, released in 2023. The incident led her to press pause on her recording plans.
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Speaking to Capital FM host Will Manning on Oct. 27, RAYE explained that the car has now been recovered. “So it was a rollercoaster journey,” she began. “But what I didn’t tell everyone is that the police called me, maybe like two, three months ago, and they were like, ‘We found your car.’
“Not only did I get it back, not one thing had been taken out of the car. All my songwriting books were there, untouched.” She continued, “Everything ended well. Never give up hope.”
Details for the 28-year-old’s second album, including a title and release date, have not yet been released, though it’s been confirmed it will drop sometime in 2026. Fans can pre-order the record, currently dubbed Album 2, via her official website.
RAYE released the first preview of material for Album 2 on Sept. 19. “Where Is My Husband!” is billed as the record’s lead single, and debuted during her performance with a brass band on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage earlier in the summer.
The track peaked at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart and No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. To accompany its release, RAYE announced a tour titled This Tour May Contain New Music, which is scheduled to pass through the U.K., Europe and North America in early 2026.
The trek will encompass six nights at London’s 20,000-capacity O2 Arena. RAYE spoke about the residency to Billboard UK at the Ivors Academy Ceremony in September, saying that she “hadn’t quite digested” the achievement yet.
“That’s a big job — six nights? I’ve got to deliver,” she said at the time. “I remember when my tours used to be six nights long! But my mind is like, ‘We need to deliver the best show we can possibly deliver.’ My mind is worrying, but I’m really grateful.” Watch the interview clip below.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.
Trending on Billboard As a longtime ally for the LGBTQ+ community, Hilary Duff knows how important her new music is for her queer fan base. In an interview with Variety published on Monday (Oct. 27), Duff spoke about her upcoming return to music after the announcement that she had signed to Atlantic Records in September. […]
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On this week’s episode of The Hot 100 Show, Billboard‘s chart experts break down the surge of “Mutt” and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” into the top 10, as well as Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” and Morgan Wallen making their way back in after a Taylor Swift-filled chart. They also share their thoughts on why they think the popularity of “Golden” and “The Fate of Ophelia” continue to hold steady.
Tetris Kelly: We have a couple of new top 10s as we find out if “Golden” can defeat Taylor Swift. Welcome back to another week of our little countdown show, where we’re figuring out if Taylor Swift, “Golden” or who’s gonna be at No. 1. But guess what? We do got some new entries this week you’re gonna want to check out, and we might have predicted them in our contenders, so let’s run it down. This is The Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week dated Nov. 1. Leon Thomas hits the top 10 with “Mutt.”
Leon Thomas: I think “Mutt” definitely resonated with the culture so much because it has a lot of essence of P Funk, Bootsy Collins. I feel like post pandemic, everybody got into their little toxic energy. So it’s like perfectly toxic.
Tetris Kelly: Morgan is back with “I Got Better.” Olivia Dean arrives with “Man I Need.” I feel like this is a really interesting top 10 because some of our contenders have finally made their way in. Let’s start with Leon Thomas and “Mutt.” How you guys feeling about his top 10 debut?
Delisa Shannon: Oh, wow. I’m so excited as a Nickelodeon kid — this is a really big moment for me to be able to see Leon Thomas and to see the way that he’s been, I mean, building his craft ever since he picked up that guitar on Naked Brothers Band back in the day. To see how he’s been able to craft a sound, to see it be celebrated in this way. I’m super, super proud and so excited that we’re getting to see it crack the top 10.
Xander Zellner: Also, it’s like exciting, because he has been around for years, not just like on Victorious and on Nickelodeon, but like he was producing and writing songs for Drake and Ariana Grande and SZA’s “Snooze,” like he’s been writing songs for a while, but it’s exciting to see him actually have a song of his own in the top 10 for the first time. So big moment for him.
Trevor Anderson: And the song has been around for a long time, too. I mean, that song came out in August 2024.
Keep watching for more!
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After touring for 30 years, LeAnn Rimes has learned a thing or two about maintaining her sanity on the road.
“Don’t ever fly day of show. You can’t do that anymore,” she cautions. “Even if you’re flying from Los Angeles to Oakland [Calif.], make sure you pack your outfit in your carry-on because your bag still may get f–king lost. And never do more than three shows in a row.”
Rimes has been famous ever since an impossibly big voice came out of a wee girl when she appeared on Star Search in 1991, becoming a one-week champion at the age of 8. Five years later, she sounded preternaturally mature when Curb Records released her first single, “Blue,” which garnered comparisons to Patsy Cline.
More than three decades into her career, the multiple Grammy winner, now 43, finds touring a richer experience than ever before, which has earned her the Unstoppable Award, to be presented at the Billboard Live Music Summit in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. “I love performing now more than I probably ever have because I feel like it’s on my terms,” she says. “I create this show that I want to perform, and I invite people into this space.”
LeAnn Rimes will be honored with the Unstoppable Award at Billboard‘s Live Music Summit, held Nov. 3 in Los Angeles. For tickets and more information, click here.
That’s a far cry from the early days when she moved at a much swifter pace, playing more than 500 shows over three-and-a-half years from ages 13 to 16. “No one really knew how long this was going to last,” she recalls. “And it was that frame of mind of, ‘Get it while you can.’ Then when we were done, people were like, ‘This may actually last and we just killed her!’ ”
For decades she continued touring at a less punishing rate but never took off more than six months out of the year. “It wasn’t until COVID till I ever sat my ass in one place for that long,” Rimes says, adding that the pandemic renewed her appreciation for performing. “These last several years, I’ve really thought long and hard about what I want to be putting out in the world, and it’s important to me to hopefully bring [the audience] some joy when people come to the shows.”
For Rimes, who now aims to play around 60 shows a year, touring remains “a huge part of my income. God knows the music business sucks. This is how we make money as artists.” Along the way, the live veteran has adapted to modern touring — namely, the advent of social media. “It’s just wild to see how much it’s changed,” says Rimes, who now looks out at a sea of cellphones rather than people’s faces every night. “It could easily control you. I don’t think about it too much anymore. I try to just allow it to be what it is because it’s its own beast.”
But as she experienced this summer, she can’t control everything onstage. During a show in Bow, Wash., in June, her front dental bridge fell out as she was singing “One Way Ticket.” She ran offstage, adjusted it and rejoined her band. The moment was, of course, captured on video and went viral. Months later, she calls the incident “pretty f–king funny,” laughing as she relives it. “I realized at that moment I could either quit — I’m four songs in — which I thought I was going to have to unless I was able to hold [the bridge] in. But luckily, I was able to. I’ve pretty much had everything happen to me onstage that could possibly happen, and that was probably one of the most precarious situations I’ve ever been in. I was very proud of myself that I handled it like a pro.”
After that incident and countless others, including tripping over sound monitors and even falling into the pit years ago, she has grown unflappable — and her shows remain potent. “LeAnn’s remarkable voice, her deep artistry and her connection with an audience have all continued to strengthen and grow throughout her 30-year career,” says Seth Malasky, her primary agent and senior vp at Wasserman, which books her in North America. “Her shows feel timeless yet brand-new. She’s earned her reputation as an authentic and captivating performer.”
Still, Rimes has diversified her creative output. Over the past two years, other projects have limited her to about 30 performances annually; in 2024, she was a coach on The Voice Australia and The Voice UK, and this year, she’s shooting ABC’s 9-1-1: Nashville, in which she plays the villainous, jaded backup singer Dixie.
“It’s been insane,” she says of trying to schedule live dates around her often shifting filming schedule. She was initially wary of signing on to the Ryan Murphy-created fire department procedural after watching her husband, actor Eddie Cibrian, deal with the vagaries of shooting an episodic TV series: “I have seen him go through not getting scripts until 24 hours before they’re shooting. I won’t say it’s been easy — I think at one time we were juggling seven episodes [between us] — but I think we’re getting to a point now where we’re starting to kind of get a little bit more in a groove.”
Looking ahead, next year marks the 30th anniversary of Rimes’ album Blue, which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in 1996 — and celebratory plans include a potential tour. “It is in the works,” Rimes says. “I know everybody’s so into nostalgia right now, which I’m loving. It’s really funny to revisit that record because I was so little. There’s about seven songs on it that I still really love that I would play.” Among all her hits, including “How Do I Live” and “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” she says she never tires of singing the album’s title track. “There are just songs that melodically, lyrically, they’re never going to go out of style,” she says. “ ‘Blue’ is probably the one that will forever just be a classic.”
As she plots that potential Blue tour and other future outings, she’s confident — and can find humor in the unexpected. “Pretty much nothing embarrasses me onstage,” she says. “I don’t even know if my pants falling down would embarrass me. I’d be like, ‘Whatevs… you guys got more than you paid for today.’ ”
This story appears in the Oct. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.
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“Throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks,” says bassist Ailbhe Barry, and for her band Florence Road, it is a kind of mission statement – one that their steep, uninhibited rise has borne out. To scroll the Irish indie rockers’ TikTok or Instagram from the bottom up is to witness this experiment in all its mess and world-building rawness, having spent years honing their own unpolished garage band persona online instead of jumping on forced trends.
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The quartet, who are all in their early 20s, possess a confidence and adventurous spirit that belies their infancy as a unit. Like their Gen Z age-mates, the members of Florence Road favour a 0.5 (or extra-wide) lens on their iPhone cameras for its distorted or less ‘choreographed’ feel; using this visual gimmick on their live performance videos has routinely brought the band’s music to the For You Pages of millions, while keeping the focus on their grungy, gloriously anthemic sound.
They’ve covered pop heroes Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, and caught the attention of Olivia Rodrigo with their pared-back rendition of “Obsessed,” leading to support slots at Dublin’s Marlay Park and BST Hyde Park in London over the summer. A take on Charli xcx’s “Sympathy Is a Knife” arrived replete with voice cracks and goofy poses, while a cover of Paramore’s “Hard Times” was thrown together in five minutes, with TikTok users unable to decide if they hated or loved the clip’s unwieldiness, only raising its standing on the platform.
“Listening to the world is important in some ways. But if we’ve done the most we can do with our work, I feel like there’s no reason to listen to anyone else,” says Barry of the band’s prolific online tendencies. “You would drive yourself mad if you were trying to please everyone.”
Completed by singer and guitarist Lily Aron, guitarist Emma Brandon and drummer Hannah Kelly, Florence Road understands that the years it has taken it to bottle lightning has made the eventual wins more fulfilling. The band formed in the coastal town of Bray, County Wicklow as high school students, drawing notice on their local open-mic scene and building a snowballing fanbase across social media before a management deal came calling after the release of their 2022 track “Another Seventeen.”
Their debut mixtape, Fall Back, was released in June via Warner Records, in which softly spoken melodies erupt into a clamour of hammering percussion, crashing guitars and snaking riffs. Part of the enthusiasm for the band stems from excitement that, with their equally lush and blistering approach, they are pushing open the gates of contemporary rock, blending wide-ranging influences (The Cranberries, Alanis Morissette, Sam Fender) with the build-and-release thrill of heavier crossover bands. Expect to see them leading industry tips lists come January.
For added live impact, so far, they have kept their sparser moments to a minimum. Nihilistic new single “Miss,” a longtime fan favorite, arrives in the middle of an Australian tour opening up for Royel Otis, the latest milestone in a bucket-list 2025 that has featured U.K. festival appearances, an upcoming European support slot for Wolf Alice and studio sessions with pop star go-to writer/producer Dan Nigro.
Chatting with Billboard U.K., the band opens up about its past few months of growth, taking ownership of its journey, and what it means to be at the forefront of the next generation of rock talent.
You’ve been sitting on “Miss” for a very long time now. How are you feeling about the prospect of finally hatching it?
Lily: It feels great because we’ve been playing it live for so long, and we love it so much. Playing it live is such a fun feeling. The song was relevant when we wrote it, and it’s stayed relevant in our lives ever since. Sometimes you write a song and it feels fixed to a certain time period but this one has travelled with us.Hannah: It was just a matter of getting it 100% right. We tried to lay it down a few times and it sounded good, but the more we played it live, the more we figured out that missing bit ourselves. It originally had a different structure and then when we played it live, we would alter it a bit – we want to get those new elements into the final track.
Have you noticed a change in how people interact with you now that you’re showcasing more of your music live and building your fanbase?
Lily: Honestly, it’s been wild. People have been so receptive towards us, it’s cool to see them mouthing along to the words of our songs at shows. But I feel like we just keep taking things one step at a time, and we can’t overthink all of it too much or we’ll go crazy. We’re just having a ball!Ailbhe: It’s also been amazing to get to see people face-to-face, when [our early career] was mainly online. We’d been used to interacting with people through comments or DMs. It’s really nice that people have been on that journey with us and seen us grow from young school kids just posting covers for fun, to now playing big stages. I’m sure it’s mad for them as much as it’s mad for us.We’re now supporting our favorite artists, which is a very surreal thing. We’re just trying to soak up every second of being on the road. We’ve also been learning how to live out of the suitcase [while touring]. It’s like, “OK, how many socks can you get away with bringing for a two-week trip?!”
How do you handle the contrast between the intimacy of your songwriting and the exposure that comes with performing in front of thousands?
Ailbhe: It’s always mad when you see people mouthing along to your songs. It happens for us at every show, even support shows. It’s crazy to think back to how these lyrics came out of our minds and then suddenly there’s people in Australia singing them! It’s quite mind-blowing, especially, for more intimate songs like “Caterpillar” or “Heavy”; it’s something that will never not feel crazy. It is phenomenal how music can travel so far.
What is it specifically about playing live that brings Florence Road to life?
Hannah: For me, personally, I never feel less vulnerable than when I’m on stage. I feel like that’s because with all the months and hours of practice we have behind us, when we’re up there performing, we enter this whole new space where we know exactly what we need to be doing. That confidence just gives a base to interact with each other and to really be in the moment.
How do you navigate creative differences within the band without compromising the integrity of the music?
Lily: That’s a big one for us. We listen to each other and if someone doesn’t like a song idea, we’re not just going to bulldoze over it. There has to be some sort of consensus, but I think everyone’s ideas are always heard out as well.
A lack of communication can destroy a band and we want to make sure that we’re all comfortable and happy. If that’s ever not the case, we check in with each other. You know, our lives are very different from what they were last year. Making sure that we’re on the same page is very important to all of us.
Given that TikTok accelerated your career, what does it take to maintain a healthy relationship with social media?
Lily: Our personal lives are important to us, and it can be a weird feeling knowing loads of people know our faces. It is not a normal thing for people to have to think about. For me personally, having a private Instagram is so important – I don’t think I’ll ever make it public. I don’t need people in that space. I absolutely adore our fans but sometimes, things can get a little too parasocial. I think it’s important for us to maintain that we’re not best friends [with them].
As your star continues to rise, what lasting impact do you want to make as a band?
Lily: We’ve been given so many incredible opportunities, so now the main thing for us is to share with other people. We want to uplift Irish musicians, and other musicians in general, and shed a light on what they’re doing. That’s what it’s all about; that’s no point in just having something for yourself. I would love to get to a point where we could give back to other artists.
Billboard‘s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.
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Former Dancing With the Stars pros Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd didn’t dance around their feelings on the subject of Taylor Swift backup dancer Jan Ravnik being cast as a professional dancer on the show.
On a recent episode of Murgatroyd’s The Penthouse With Peta podcast, she and Chmerkovskiy — who both previously served as resident pros in past seasons of the competition series and have been married since 2017 — questioned Ravnik’s place on the program. After accompanying the pop superstar on her global Eras Tour for nearly two years, the Slovenian-born dancer joined the cast of DWTS as a coach in August.
“Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing With the Stars,” Chmerkovskiy said frankly. “There’s zero foundation, technique, quality, understanding of the partnership.”
“Bro, I’m getting emotional,” he continued, rejecting Murgatroyd’s claim that Ravnik should be given “grace” as it’s only his first season on the show. “It is absurd. It’s unreal how blind we have to be, and God forbid say what’s obviously there. He had no idea what the foxtrot is supposed to look like. How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different?”
Billboard has reached out to DWTS producers for comment.
The podcast comes shortly after Ravnik advanced to the next round of DWTS with his celebrity partner, Jen Affleck of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, following their performance on a Wicked-themed episode of the show featuring guest judge Jon M. Chu. The duo scored 8’s across the board — but Murgatroyd said she thinks Affleck is at a disadvantage with the Eras Tour alum as her partner.
“I feel bad, because she’s not getting taught the basics that she needs to,” said the podcaster. “He’s a Taylor Swift dancer, it’s the obvious reason why he was hired — apart from that, he’s a lovely guy, he looks great, he’s a great dancer.”
Despite Ravnik’s positive qualities, Murgatroyd added: “Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous.”
The 34th season of DWTS kicked off in mid-September. In addition to Affleck, Whitney Leavitt — also of Mormon Wives fame — as well as Alix Earle, Robert Irwin, Scott Hoying of Pentatonix, Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony, Jordan Chiles, Hilaria Baldwin and Danielle Fishel were cast as the show’s latest flock of celebrity amateur dancers.
And despite still coming down from the high of Swift’s groundbreaking Eras trek, Ravnik expressed how excited he was to be joining DWTS as a pro following his casting announcement in August. “I traveled all around the world with Eras Tour, and now I’m coming to the ballroom stage for Dancing With the Stars,” he said at the time in video statement on Good Morning America. “Mirrorball never goes out of style, and we are ready to win it.”
See Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd’s full discussion about Ravnik on DWTS below.
