‘Dancing With the Stars’ Alum Complains About Being ‘Stiff’ After Starting Tour Rehearsal

The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe learned plenty of dance moves on her way to the Dancing With The Stars Season 29 championship, and she will finally show her skills live on stage for the DWTS Live 2022 tour that starts next month. She started rehearsals earlier this week and is already in pain. Bristowe is the celebrity guest for most of the tour and will be joined by Season 30 winner Iman Shumpert on select dates.

The pro dancers have been rehearsing for a while, which isn’t fair, Bristowe, 36, told Us Weekly on Thursday. Although she did win a Mirrorball Trophy, it has been over a year since she danced in the ballroom, so it feels like she’s starting all over again while rehearsing for the tour. “I’ve been rehearsing for the last three days and I really prepped to go on Dancing With the Stars – I was, like, training, I was going to physio, I was doing all the things,” she said, noting how she forgot how “intense” the dance training is. “My body is so stiff just from three days, my neck is already, like, I pulled something.”

Since 2015, almost every DWTS season was followed by a live tour featuring the pro dancers and a group of celebrity contestants. Season 28 winner Hannah Brown took part in the 2020 tour, which ended early because of the coronavirus pandemic. After Season 29 wrapped, there was no tour at all because of the pandemic. Season 29 didn’t even have fans in the ballroom, so the tour will be Bristowe’s first time dancing in front of large crowds.

“I’m so excited because I think [a crowd] just changes the whole dynamic of the energy. I got to do that one Janet Jackson dance to announce that I was going on tour and just hearing people cheer in the crowd – it’s a game-changer,” Bristowe told Us Weekly. “It’s just a whole other ballgame.”

As for the live show format, Bristowe said it will be “different” from past tours since Shumpert joined. The Talk co-host Amanda Kloots and country music star Jimmie Allen, who both competed in Season 30, will also join the tour, which kicks off on Jan. 7 in Richmond, Virginia. Bristowe is scheduled to perform in every show on the tour until March 16.

Before the DWTS tour starts though, Bristowe will join Tayshia Adams to host the “After the Final Rose” episode of The Bachelorette on Dec. 21. “I’m so scared,” Bristowe, who is engaged to Jason Tartick, told Us Weekly. “Kaitlyn on live national television – what could go wrong?”