When the cast of  Dancing With the Stars  Season 35 was announced on Wednesday morning, a few of the names raised eyebrows among fans of the reality competition series.

The most controversial casting, perhaps, is Jenna Dewan, a professional dancer who started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and starred opposite Channing Tatum in the 2006 dance movie  Step Up.  While the premise of  DWTS  is pairing professional dancers with celebrity amateurs, Dewan will be paired with a pro, ballroom expert and  DWTS  veteran Val Chmerkovskiy. Dewan's casting sparked backlash online, with some fans arguing that Dewan has an extensive dance background and therefore has a clear advantage over the other contestants. Still,  DWTS  has no clear standard when it comes to the extent of contestants' dance background, and many of the celebrities who have competed on the show have some experience.

Dewan defended her casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that while she is a highly experienced dancer,  I do not know how to ballroom dance. 

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 Let's be clear. It's two different languages,  Dewan told EW.  There's parts of my dance training that's helpful, obviously. I've learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It's a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of - I don't want to say bad habits - but just habits of the style that I'm used to. 

Dewan said her dance background almost makes her  a little more nervous  to compete on the show, because ballroom  feels really foreign.  She explained,  It's not like you're giving me a style that I've done - I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges. But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself. 

Chmerkovskiy defended his partner's casting, saying,  First of all, it's naive to think that this show is just about dance. It's about the human experience and the human journey and how much you're willing to reveal yourself. Dance is a vehicle 

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