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Curious about the earnings of celebrities on Dancing With the Stars? According to a 2019 report by Variety, participants receive $125,000 for the rehearsal phase and the initial two weeks of competition. As contestants advance, their paychecks increase weekly. At that time, insiders revealed to the publication that the maximum potential earnings could reach $295,000.
Nonetheless, Bobby Bones claimed his earnings surpassed this amount when he clinched the title in season 27 alongside Sharna Burgess in 2018.
During a September 2025 episode of Jason Tartick‘s podcast Trading Secrets, the radio host remarked, “The show pays reasonably well. Initially, there’s no payout for the first episode. By the second episode, it’s $10,000. Then, it progresses to $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. Eventually, if you stick around, it’s $50,000 per episode.”
In addition to a base salary of approximately $110,000, Bones added, “I ended up earning nearly $400,000 from participating in the show.”
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show.”
ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.