Key Insights
- Hailey’s determination continued despite her elimination from the show.
- She trained at Utah’s Center Stage Performing Arts Studio alongside future stars.
- Hailey joined the BYU Cougarettes after high school but left for a tour.
- In 2025, she returned to Dancing With the Stars as a troupe member.
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.”
