Women Over 50 Love 'Dancing With the Stars'. Does the Show Love Them Back?

When I started watching Dancing With the Stars 11 years ago, people called me “a grandma”. And like...fair. The show has always been a big hit with women over 50. 

This demographic has carried the show for 20 years. Now, Dancing With the Stars is wildly popular among young viewers, but without women over 50? I doubt the show would have even made it to its 34th season, which just wrapped on November 25. But there's something we need to talk about, and it's the show's legacy of women over 50 who actually hit the dance floor.

On this most recent season, Elaine Hendrix, who is 54, made the show's finale. Had she won, Hendrix would have been the oldest Dancing With the Stars winner in the show's history. She finished in fifth place, but even that feels historic: Hendrix is only the third woman over 50 to make the show's finale. Let that sink in — in 34 seasons, only three women over 50 have ever made it that far in the competition, which is especially striking when you consider that, well....50 isn't old.

It's not just about the stats. The show frequently features men over 50 who capture America’s heart and go far in the competition, despite a real lack of dance ability. But women over 50 (or, really, over 40)? Even with incredible dance chops, they tend not to fare well.

It’s about so much more than a reality show, though. This is how it goes. As women, we are made to feel like our light dims as we age. Like we’re no longer worthy of the spotlight, or main character treatment after we hit a certain age. That age isn’t even 50; it’s more like….I don’t know, 25? That’s when we start to sense messages that we’re becoming more and more invisible by the day. 

And we see that message reflected all over media — including this show, which has been carried by women over a certain age, even if they rarely get to see themselves represented all the way through.

Elaine Hendrix, you made history — along with Jennifer Grey, who won the show’s 11th season, and the late Kirstie Alley, who finished in second place on the show’s 12th.

Iconic words from Hendrix on this particular season will be a rallying cry for women over 50: “I am 54,” she said. “I’m injured and I just did that.”