Have you ever wondered how much celebrities earn by participating in Dancing With the Stars? According to a 2019 report by Variety, contestants initially pocket $125,000 for the rehearsal period and the first two weeks of the competition. As they advance through the show, their earnings increase with each episode, and at that time, sources indicated that the maximum payout could reach up to $295,000.

Nonetheless, Bobby Bones, who clinched victory in the 27th season alongside Sharna Burgess in 2018, revealed that his earnings surpassed this amount.

During a September 2025 episode of Jason Tartick‘s podcast Trading Secrets, the radio host shared, “The compensation for that show is decent. Initially, you don’t earn anything for the first episode, but by the second, it’s $10,000. The pattern continues with payouts of $10,000, $10,000, and then $20,000, $20,000, eventually reaching approximately $50,000 per episode if you persist.”

In addition to the base salary, which he mentioned was about $110,000, Bones concluded, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that 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.