Hilaria Baldwin: How DWTS Costumes Bruised My Body and My Pride
When former Dancing with the Stars contestant Hilaria Baldwin speaks, it’s rarely just glitz and glamour. She recently revealed that her costumes on season 34 weren’t just flashy — they were painful. From a neck-hugging corset to a skirt so cumbersome it tripped them up mid-dance, she endured bruises, taped elbows and real discomfort. Think of it like when Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage stripped down on stage and ended with a torn costume — the glamour hides the realness behind the scenes.
Hilaria Baldwin has never shied away from the spotlight, but on her latest stint in Dancing with the Stars, she found the show’s sparkle carried serious physical cost. During a recent appearance on the podcast MisSPELLING, she revealed that one of her Week 1 outfits left her “bruised… all my collarbones and the back of my neck” because the tight-strap corset dug into her skin.
“It was actually really, really tight,” she said, referring to the silver and lime green top supported by a strap around her neck. The costume was designed to avoid wardrobe malfunctions, she explained, but the effect was anything but comfortable.
When the competition moved into Week 2 for the tango with partner Gleb Savchenko, things didn’t get any easier. Hilaria said her elbows were taped because she felt “awful pain” after being thrown into a trick near the end of the performance. Then came Week 4’s Disney Night: she donned what she calls her “least favourite” look — a floor-length, fabric-heavy gown inspired by Princess Leia. “We kept catching each other on it and it made it hard to dance,” she admitted.
Despite the hardships, Hilaria says she has no regrets. She praised the experience as an opportunity and celebrated the friendship she found in Savchenko. It’s a reminder that for celebrities — even those used to cameras and crowds — live dancing is raw, physical, and high-stakes. Especially when you’ve already carried a previous hip injury and are juggling family life.
In Nigeria and across Africa, we’ve seen stars push themselves too: think of Wizkid performing back-to-back shows despite exhaustion, or Yemi Alade navigating heavy costumes for music videos in heat. What Hilaria reveals echoes something many performing artistes know: that behind the sparkle is sheer grind.
She also touched on the emotional side of the journey. Although the dance ended earlier than she hoped, Hilaria embraced the ride — the rehearsals, the sacrifices, the bruises. She spoke of being grateful to reconnect with a part of her past (she had dance experience years ago), and of using the process to challenge herself: “I didn’t sign up for this to be comfortable,” she said.
For fans of the show, the message is clear: behind every sequin and spin there is preparation, pressure and sometimes pain. Hilaria’s honesty reminds us that on TV it looks effortless — in reality, it isn’t.
Conclusion
Hilaria Baldwin’s candid confessions about bruised collarbones and dancing in a “least-favourite” gown show just how taxing live competition can be, even for someone comfortable in the spotlight. The takeaway? Glamour doesn’t mean easy — it means effort, vulnerability, and sometimes literal pain. As we watch stars perform this season, we might also remember the costumes, the rehearsals and the unseen struggle. And who knows — perhaps next time we’ll see her back on the dance floor, wiser and stronger.