In December of 2023, Season 32 of Dancing with the Stars wrapped with singer Jason Mraz landing in second place. While finishing as runner-up sounds like a perfectly respectable conclusion for anyone who takes on the long-running competition show, Mraz was hoping for a slightly different outcome, he revealed this week.
While guesting on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast, Mraz explained that his homesickness during filming was specifically related to missing his cat, to the point where he began asking his friends to not vote for him.
“Two or three weeks in, I realized I’m probably going to be here the whole time, and I’m terrified, and I have to cancel all my plans for the entire rest of the year, and I’m missing my cat terribly,” he shared. “I start telling my friends, ‘Stop voting for me!’”
Unfortunately for Mraz and his favorite furry companion, his skills on the dance floor took him all the way through the competition. Although the singer and his partner, Daniella Karagach, ultimately lost out on the mirror ball trophy to actor Xochitil Gomez and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy, Mraz ended up having a positive experience on the show overall. He even confirmed to Ferguson that if given the opportunity, he’d be open to returning to the show.
“Having made it all the way to the very end, made it to the buzzer, I look back and laugh and think, ‘Well, maybe if I’d actually given a shit!’” he joked. “So, I would do it all over again if I could, and I would try really hard.”
Listen to the full episode of Dinner’s on Me below, or jump to 38 minutes in to hear Mraz’s full recounting of events.
Mraz is currently on a North American tour. Get tickets here.