LOS ANGELES – Where's a scandal-ridden star to go?

Ryan Lochte, on the heels of the 2016 Summer Olympics, decided that the "Dancing with the Stars" ballroom was best. Lochte had just been dropped by major sponsors and suspended by USA Swimming over spinning a story to police and media about being robbed at gunpoint in the games' host city of Rio de Janeiro.

Referred to colloquially as "Lochtegate," the scandal unfurled after the swimmer and three of his teammates claimed they had been the subjects of a stick-up at a gas station in Brazil. As plotholes began to emerge, and Rio police refuted the account, Lochte admitted that he had been heavily intoxicated and had "over-exaggerated" the story.

One month later, he hit the "Dancing with the Stars" ballroom floor alongside professional dance partner Cheryl Burke. Save for one unexpected on-air protest, his stint on the show went off without much hitch, giving Lochte the chance to do a bit of image rehab and learn a two-step along the way.

His arc is not unlike several "DWTS" cast members, who have shocked audiences on their reveal, then waltzed their way back into good graces – or attempted to. Famed fraudster Anna Delvey, daughter of the college admissions scandal Olivia Jade, and Food Network star outed for using racist slurs, Paula Deen, are just a few of the names topping the list of controversial contestants past.

It seems that the show, an ABC staple for two decades, is the one move PR teams aren't afraid to make after a crisis. But why?

Casting director Deena Katz may have the answer. Where some shows may shy away from a heavily side-eyed cast announcement, she says she loves the shock value.

"I always look for something that when we make that announcement, you say, 'I have to see that.' It really kind of crystallized back in Season 1 … it wasn't until I locked in Evander Holyfield and suddenly we were like 'Holy cow, we have something here.'" Holyfield, a pro boxer, was eliminated three weeks into the show's inaugural season.

Katz, who has helped shepherd the show into the internet age by casting influencers and popular reality stars, says a season's celebrity dancers are like "an amazing jigsaw puzzle of the best dinner party you'll ever have."

Despite the cultural cache the shock value delivers, though, "Dancing with the Stars" status as a refuge for scandalized celebs exists because they get the opportunity to leave that scandal behind.

"We're not there to make fun of you, or to call you out. And there's certainly things that have happened behind the scenes on camera that we don't show," Katz says. "It's not like other shows where that's what a producer waits for. … We just ask that you be honest."

Hilaria Baldwin, who was on this season of "Dancing," can attest to that. Baldwin has known her fair share of negative press coverage (see: allegations of faking a Spanish accent and heritage, and a husband previously charged with manslaughter).

"I didn't really know what to expect," Baldwin, 41, who described her decision to join the show as "last-minute," says. "As an environment, it's extraordinarily supportive. The most lovely people on the planet are doing this show."

But Baldwin says the positive spin is not why she joined the cast.

"There's such cool, amazing opportunities like this one and really amazing people … that come with the world that Alec brought me into," she says. Hilaria married Alec Baldwin in 2012, and the pair share seven children. "At the same time, there's people who just want to misunderstand you."

Baldwin says the pros advise all the celebrity contestants not to listen to the interview and rehearsal packages that play before their performance because it can "get in your head." As such, she doesn't really know how she was portrayed on the show, but says she imagines it was pretty true to form.

"I don't think that they’re washing anything out. I feel like it's a pretty authentic experience, but I don't think they’re trying to twist things to the 'gotcha,' she says. " But, I think if you behave badly, then that's the kind of thing that they probably would show."

Sean Spicer, an early press secretary for President Donald Trump in his first term, echoed much of Baldwin's testimony. Spicer appeared on "DWTS" in 2019.

"It's probably one of the best experiences I've had in my professional career. It's a great group of folks," he says. "I never even danced at my wedding. I have zero artistic qualities, no rhythm." Spicer, paired with pro Lindsay Arnold, made it nine weeks on his season.

"When Deena sold it to me, she said, 'It's really a family,'" he tells USA TODAY from Los Angeles, where he had flown to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary earlier this month. "It sounded like a great talking point at the time, what I've realized is that it truly is."

"I'm in touch with folks that were (in) hair and makeup, craft services, folks who do the spray tans. It really is a great group of people who are unbelievably supportive," he says. "They take care of their own."

While he is certainly not the most scandal-tinged staffer to leave the Trump administration, Spicer's politics don't exactly find an easy home in Hollywood. Despite that, he says, the whole cast and crew were "very kind and respectful."

Spicer says his bond with Mary Wilson, the late Supremes singer who also competed during that season, was particularly strong.

"We never talked politics at all, but we developed a nice friendship. … I didn’t expect that," he says.

The anecdote harkens back to Katz's original "dinner party" quip. Or, better yet, a classic joke format – a White House Press Secretary, an NBA forward and a member of the Supremes walk into a bar. Their only thing in common? They've all competed for the Mirrorball trophy.

"There's something for everybody," Katz says. "If you tune in because you're that sports fan or because you had to see Anna Delvey, you end up falling in love with someone else, and that's who you root for."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'Dancing with the Stars' became a soft spot for scandal-ridden celebrities to land

Reporting by Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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