'DWTS' Faces Backlash for Having Trained Dancers Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr. Compete on New Season: 'How Is This Fair?'

Dancing With the Stars is already facing some pushback over its Season 35 casting choices.

The ABC competition series came under fire on Wednesday, September 2, after announcing that Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr. would be among this season's contestants. The actress and dancer began her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson before landing her breakout role opposite Channing Tatum in the 2006 dance movie Step Up. Shum also appeared on Glee and Step Up.

Dewan will take the ballroom floor with longtime DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy, but her casting has some viewers questioning whether she has too much experience compared with the rest of the lineup.

Dewan's announcement quickly got people talking online, with viewers pointing to her years of professional dance experience.

“She’s a professional dancer,” one emphasized in a clip posted by Good Morning America during the contestant’s appearance.

Another chimed in, “How is this fair @dancingwiththestars?”

“Are there any other contestants cause they are talking like it's just them in the room 😂😂😂,” a third chimed in.

A fourth suggested, “She shouldn't be dancing..she's a professional dancer.”

The reaction comes from fans who feel Dewan could have an advantage once the competition gets underway.

Dewan, however, sees things a little differently.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, she acknowledged her extensive dance background but pointed out that ballroom is a completely different discipline.

“I do not know how to ballroom dance. Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” Dewan stated. “There are parts of my dance training that are 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.”

The actress also admitted that having years of dance training doesn't necessarily make her feel more comfortable heading into the competition.

In fact, Dewan said her background has made her “a little more nervous” because ballroom “feels really foreign.”

“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,” she explained.

Shum Jr. told an outlet that his past dancing gigs won’t give him a head start in the competition.

“I think everyone’s idea is like, ‘Oh, you dance, so you should be able to dance anything.’ And I mean, that’s just not true,” Shum Jr. told People. “There are hundreds of styles, not dozens, hundreds all over the world.”

“It’s just a whole new vocabulary,” Shum Jr. added in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I’m excited for the challenge, and I’m very ignorant to it, in a sense of like I don’t know anything about it. So [partner Jenna Johnson’s] teaching me the ropes, and hopefully we can execute on stage.”