As you can imagine, to compete on Dancing with the Stars — either as a professional dancer or as a celebrity — is a massive time commitment. The contestants definitely deserve some sort of financial compensation, but how much exactly?

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For years, the Dancing with the Stars franchise has lacked transparency regarding exactly how much money its dancers make (famous or not), however, after a great deal of internet sleuthing, we may have found their salaries.

Keep scrolling to see for yourself — the information might surprise you!

How much money do pros make on Dancing with the Stars?

Given that the pros on Dancing with the Stars are required to choreograph weekly dances, teach their partner said dances for at least 20 hours per week, and perform on the show (not to mention uprooting their life and moving to Los Angeles for a few months), it makes sense why these professional dancers have such a large salary.

According to Parade, “It is rumored that a starting salary for a pro is $1,600 per episode, which keeps them motivated to stay in the season for as long as possible to keep the paychecks coming in, but for the pros that have been on the show for several seasons and have garnered a fan following, the rumor is their salary is negotiable and can go up to as much as $5,200 per episode.”

While this is based on rumors alone, sources have said that the professional dancers can make up to $100,000 per season — for just a few months of hard work, this sounds like a pretty great deal to us!

How much money do celebrities make on Dancing with the Stars?

To the surprise of Dancing with the Stars fans across the country, the celebrities make far more money then their partners.

Contrary to popular belief, all of the celebrities competing on Dancing with the Stars make the same amount of money (at least to begin their time on the hit competition series). Contestants make more and more money depending on how far they advance in the competition, and their level of fame has nothing to do with their salary on the show — how wild is that?

“For stars who make it to weeks three and four, there is an added bonus amount of $10,000 per week. If they make it to week five, the additional pay is $15,000. Weeks six and seven add $20,000 per week, and then weeks eight and nine see $30,000 deposited in their bank account… If they are lucky enough to make the semi-finals and the finale, there is an additional $50,000 prize money each week, plus the winner gets the Mirrorball Trophy,” an article from Parade revealed.

While this is a lot of money that the celebrities have a chance to earn, what is the starting salary for weeks one and two, as well as the countless number of rehearsals leading up to the show?

According to Variety, “Contestants on the ABC competition series make $125,000 for the show’s rehearsal period and their first two weeks on the air. If they make it to week three and beyond, they begin to earn additional fees each week.”

Given that this information was revealed back in 2019, who knows if the stars are making more or less money than before. Nonetheless, this is a whopping wad of cash to add to their bank account, on top of all of the funds they have undoubtedly collected due to their time in the limelight…

Dancing With the Stars will return to our screens with a highly-anticipated premiere episode on Tuesday, September 26, at 8pm ET/PT, and after that, brand new episodes will air weekly on ABC or Disney Plus — with such a star-studded cast, it is sure to be a season to remember!