Inside Jenna Johnson's Niece Hailey Bills' Journey to DWTS Pro

For a different two-step, Hailey’s parents enrolled her in soccer after moving from Utah to Illinois. But after she took a recreational dance class in Chicago, she quickly realized she had found her groove.

So when her family headed to Frisco, Texas, when she was about 6, Hailey joined the Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre company and began competing. By 2017, she was named the Mini Female Best Dancer at The Dance Awards.

Shortly after taking the title, Hailey and her family moved back to Utah, where she began to focus more on ballroom. And in 2018, at just 12, she became a junior pro on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors.

She competed with 9-year-old Tripp Palin and was coached by Jenna. Meanwhile, Jenna's now-husband Val Chmerkovskiy served as one of the judges. 

"We were cut first episode," Hailey shared on an October 2025 episode of The Joe Vulpis Podcast. "The drive home with Val was really awkward."

Still, he didn't glide over how she was feeling. "We actually went to dinner, and he gave me his whole pep talk," Hailey continued, "and I know he was sad about it. It was totally fine."

Being eliminated from the show didn’t stop Hailey from chasing her dreams.

She kept training at Utah’s Center Stage Performing Arts Studio alongside future Dancing With the Stars pros Rylee Arnold—who also competed on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors—and Ezra Sosa. Along the way, she racked up more titles, including Teen Female Best Dancer in 2022.

After graduating from high school in 2024, Hailey attended Brigham Young University and joined the school’s dance team, the BYU Cougarettes. However, she cha-cha'ed away later that year to perform on Derek Hough’s tour.

Then, in 2025, Hailey got the call that brought her back to where it all began: She was joining Dancing With the Stars season 34 as a troupe member.

"There wasn’t any sort of audition process at least for me on my end," she added on The Joe Vulpis Podcast. “I was just trying to post on social media a lot, keep in my training, and just make it clear that that’s what I wanted to do. It was a goal, and I’m so grateful it worked out."

And Jenna and Val got to help deliver the life-changing news.

"POV: It’s 2am in Paris and you find out that you and your niece are going to share the stage on DWTS this season!!!!!!" Jenna wrote on Instagram last September alongside footage from the call. “So beyond proud of you @hailey.bills. You are beyond deserving of this moment. Can’t wait for the world to see you SHINE."

Indeed, Hailey's relationship with her aunt and uncle goes far beyond the ballroom.

“We are best friends," Hailey raved. "Every single night, we’ll either do a movie night or we’ll sit in the kitchen and just talk for three hours and just make TikToks."

After season 34 wrapped, she joined Jenna, Val and other pros on the Dancing With the Stars Tour. Then, in September, she received another promotion and was officially cast as a pro for season 35. 

"It’s been a pleasure to watch everything fall into place," Hailey said on the podcast while reflecting on her journey. "It’s just been absolutely insane. Sometimes I’ll just be like, 'Holy crap, this is my life. Like, what the heck?'"

Fans can watch Hailey make her debut as a Dancing With the Stars pro when season 35 premieres Sept 15 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. Until then, read on to meet more of the cast.