For over two decades, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars has captivated audiences nationwide and become a must-watch reality television series. The show pairs celebrities like Zendaya, Kim Kardashian, Donny Osmond, Simone Biles, Jerry Rice, and more, with professional dancers as they compete in choreographed routines judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts.
Since its inception in 2005, the show has only grown more popular, and with the boom of social media, the conversation now extends well after the episode airs, as fans post reaction videos and discuss memorable moments online.
For Endicott students Charlotte Santos ’28 and Liam Hieger ’28, every Tuesday brings another chance to recreate some of the show’s most impressive moves, turning their shared love for Dancing With the Stars into a viral social media sensation.
After recreating a lift performed by The Bachelor star Tyler Cameron and professional dancer Sharna Burgess during week two of the competition, the pair’s TikTok quickly went viral, racking up more than one million views and 157.8K likes while inspiring others to take on the challenge.
The video even caught the attention of Cameron, Burgess, and the official Dancing With the Stars account, all of whom commented on the post. Major brands, including Marshall’s, Kate Spade, GNC, and Tide, also showed their support in the comments. The viral moment made national headlines, with USA Today featuring the pair.
Santos, who has been dancing for 18 years and was a competitive dancer throughout high school, is a member of Endicott’s EDGE dance group.
Since their moment, the pair haven’t slowed down, filming even more challenges. Santos and Hieger reenacted another lift done by Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn and pro Pasha Pashkov during week four of the competition. Once again, the post exploded, with over 591k views and 60k likes. Glenn and Burgess commented, and Pashkov reposted.
To learn more about the inspiration behind their viral videos, the challenges of recreating the lifts, and the unexpected attention they’ve received, we sat down with Santos to hear about their experience.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What made you decide to recreate the initial Dancing With the Stars lift?
Santos: We decided to recreate our first lift because we were so impressed with it. Liam and I looked at each other and thought, “We could do that.” We got to work immediately, having our friends Gianna Zerella ’28 and Emily Myslinski ’28 help us figure out how to get it right. After the success of our first lift video, it’s just become something fun to look forward to every week after we watch the show.
How many tries did it take to get the lift right?
Santos: Our first lift attempt took us many tries. I remember looking at the time once we finished our first viral lift video, and it was 12:40 a.m.! Since then, we’ve made lift videos every week, and how long it takes us to get our final attempt really varies. Our easiest recreation so far has definitely been Amber and Pasha’s trick from week four. Our hardest recreation was Tyler and Sharna’s trick from week five, where it took almost three hours!
When did you first realize the video was starting to take off? What was it like seeing yourselves featured by USA Today?
Santos: Immediately after we posted our first lift video, we knew we were going viral. I remember Liam and I kept refreshing our page, watching the views grow by about 1,000 each refresh, with the likes also growing rapidly.
It was really cool to see ourselves featured on USA Today. When a journalist reached out and asked if they could use our video, we were both so shocked. Being featured on the Dancing With the Stars Instagram was also surreal! We never expected anything like this to happen from the videos.
After posting our first viral video and other lift videos, which got a substantial amount of views, I found that posting on TikTok was way more fun than I thought it would be. I like sharing aspects of my life on TikTok and interacting with my friends online. While my Dancing With the Stars content with Liam is my most popular kind of video, I still enjoy posting other videos about myself and what I’m up to.
What have your friends, family, classmates, and professors said about the video?
Santos: We have had a ton of support from so many people on campus! We’ve had a lot of people tell us that they’ve seen our TikToks and all the pros commenting, or call us the “famous TikTok couple.” Specifically, the Residence Life staff has been super supportive every time they see us, as well as Professor Reynolds, whom I kept updated on how the videos were doing.
Liam and I have also had received a lot of encouragement from my friends at dance who leave comments saying they checked my TikTok page to see if we have posted a new lift. I think the funniest part about these “TikTok viral moments” is that we now get randomly recognized by people we don’t know who say things like, “Wait, aren’t you guys the ones on TikTok?”
Did you ever think the video would get this much attention when you posted it?
Santos: We never thought any of the videos we posted would go viral. We had very low expectations when we posted our first lift and still do even for the ones we post now. The most unexpected part of everything is that so many of the pros and stars will comment, like, and repost the videos. Liam will always see them interact with the videos first and text me, being so excited every time. We think it’s just really cool that they’ve seen us and know we exist.
If you could recreate a dance or lift with any DWTS pro or celebrity contestant, who would it be?
Santos: Liam and I would want to dance/recreate a lift with Pasha and Daniella. They are our absolute favorites on the show and have been at the top of our Dancing With the Stars pyramid this entire season so far. They have such amazing choreography, and Liam and I have been loving both of their dances each week with their celebrity partners.
They are such talented dancers, and Liam and I have recreated both their lifts from different weeks this season. Both times, Pasha and Daniella have commented, reposted, and liked the videos, which has been so surreal.