And it seems that Dean just can't shake his bad boy rep.
Host Amanda Keller was quick to bring up Dean’s racy appearance on MAFS, reminding the audience that he’d fallen into disrepute while on the show.
“Tonight Dean Wells is dancing the cha-cha. Correct. Yet, on a reality show, a long time ago on a channel far, far away, he got into a lot of trouble for doing the horizontal cha-cha,” she said.
In his pre-dance package, Dean replicated his MAFS experience as he stood at an altar waiting.
But instead of a bride, Dean’s dance partner Alexandra Vladimirov appeared and asked Dean,
“I have an important question for you. Do you promise to love, honour, and obey all the rules of dancing this season?”
To which he simply replied “I do.”
Next we were treated to watching Dean sweat through a rehearsal to the extent he had to change his shirt.
Dean and his partner then struggled through their cha-cha – although Dean did crack out some breakdancing moves - for judges Sharna Burgess, Tristan MacManus and Mandy Moore.
Judge Mandy, a famed Hollywood choreographer who’s worked with some of the best performers in the world, including Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone on La La Land and is filling in for Craig while he finished the Strictly Come Dancing Tour in the UK.
Dean’s dance moves may need some work but Amanda was quick to ask Mandy how he compared to Ryan Gosling.
“Yes, a lot of parallels between Ryan and Dean for sure,” she quipped.
“I'm smiling and I'm not quite sure why I'm smiling, but I think it's because you're having a good time, which I enjoy. I will give you a weird thought for next week. I need you to find your inner twinkle-toes, you hit everything like a mack truck,” she advised.
After taking on the judges’ feedback, Dean made a plea for the audience to reassess how they think of him.
“Maybe I'm not like the bad guy that so many people thought of me on the last reality show I was on,” he said. “Maybe a terrible dancer, but maybe not the bad guy or the villain, hopefully”
