Actor Juan Pablo Di Pace will compete in the upcoming 27th season of “Dancing with the Stars,” which will make him the third cast member from Netflix’s “Fuller House” to compete for the Mirror Ball Trophy, following Candace Cameron Bure (season 18) and Jodie Sweetin (season 22). But neither of his co-stars won the competition. Can he improve on their performances? The new season begins on September 24th, so before he gets on the dance floor let’s consider his pros and cons.
PROS
Di Pace appeared in international stage productions of “Chicago,” “Grease,” and “Saturday Night Fever.” Having experience in live stage musicals is always helpful when it comes to learning music and choreography — just ask recent winners Alfonso Ribeiro (season 19) and Jordan Fisher (season 25), both Broadway alums. He also had a small role in the first “Mamma Mia!” film (2008), so could we expect to see at least one routine to an ABBA song?
In recent years Di Pace has developed a TV fan base thanks to his appearances in “Dallas,” “A.D. The Bible Continues” and of course “Fuller House,” And following in the footsteps of co-stars Cameron Bure and Sweetin, he might be able to learn from their experiences to advance even farther than they did.
His professional partner will be Cheryl Burke, who is “Dancing with the Stars” royalty after having previously competed in 20 seasons. She even managed to come out on top during her first two, winning the Mirror Ball Trophy with Drew Lachey in season 2 and Emmitt Smith in season 3.
Heartthrobs often do well with the show’s female demographic. Consider past winners like Lachey and Nyle DiMarco (season 22) and finalists like Cristian De La Fuente (season 6), Gilles Marini (season 8) and William Levy (season 14) — the last three of whom were also paired with Burke during their seasons. Di Pace could potentially fill that role this year.
CONS
While Cheryl Burke had a pretty good track record in her earlier seasons, her last four efforts haven’t been as successful. She finished in eighth place in seasons 18 with Drew Carey and 19 with Antonio Sabato Jr. Then she improved slightly by finishing seventh with Ryan Lochte in season 23 and sixth with Terrell Owens in season 25. But she hasn’t been to the finals since season 17.
His “Fuller House” co-stars fell short of the Mirror Ball Trophy, with Cameron Bure placing third and Sweetin finishing sixth. Can Di Pace prevail if they couldn’t?
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