Witney Carson Expects 3rd Baby, Plans DWTS Return While Pregnant

Q: What unprecedented safety measures is DWTS implementing for its first pregnant pro dancer competing this late?

No unprecedented, publicly detailed safety protocol has been announced by Dancing With the Stars yet. What has been reported is that Witney Carson, her husband Carson McAllister, and DWTS casting director Deena Katz made Carson’s and the baby’s health the top priority before agreeing she would compete. Carson has said the arrangement depends on her continuing only “as long as the baby is healthy” and she is “doing well.” That indicates the show is treating her participation as conditional and closely guided by her health status, rather than confirming a special named policy or new production rule. Because Carson is the first professional dancer to enter a DWTS season this far along in pregnancy, the likely safeguards are individualized ones: ongoing health monitoring, choreography and costume adjustments, and a willingness to scale back or stop if needed. But those specifics have not been formally spelled out in the reporting provided. So, the clearest answer is that DWTS has emphasized a case-by-case safety approach centered on medical and personal well-being, but it has not publicly outlined any unprecedented safety measures beyond making mother-and-baby health the overriding priority.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo News Canada · Aug 17

Witney Carson, 32, said on Aug. 17 that she is expecting her third child with husband Carson McAllister, expanding their family to five.
Carson told PEOPLE she has been in “pure survival mode” during the first trimester, battling nausea while caring for sons Leo, 5, and Jet, 3.
The reigning Season 34 Mirrorball champion said she still plans to compete on the upcoming Dancing with the Stars season if the baby remains healthy and she feels well.
Carson said that would make her the first professional dancer on the show to compete while this far along in pregnancy, a step she called both scary and exciting.
The announcement follows her 2023 decision to skip Season 32 to focus on her young family, after saying she was not physically ready three months postpartum.