Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli has weighed in on whether celebrities with an impressive dance background have an unfair advantage in the ballroom.
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"It's crazy. Let me explain," Bruno, 70, shared on Monday's episode of SiriusXM's Front Row on Radio Andy.
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Bruno claimed that celebrities going on Dancing with the Stars who have been trained in other types of dance simply won't have an edge in the competition.
"It doesn't matter, because ballroom and Latin are so specific. They're very specific disciplines," Bruno explained.
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"In fact, they say if you're a ballet dancer, ballet-trained, 'Oh, she's had ballet.' It actually doesn't help -- at all -- for Latin, because Latin is all ground. You're using the foot in a completely different way."
Bruno pointed out that the same goes for celebrities who have experience performing hip-hop and modern, such as film actresses Julia Stiles and Jenna Dewan.
Before landing her breakout role in the 2006 dance movie Step Up alongside her now ex-husband Channing Tatum, Jenna worked as a backup dancer and appeared in music videos for Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore, Toni Braxton and more.
Julia is known for her starring role on Save the Last Dance, which featured her performing ballet and hip-hop.
And Harry Shum Jr. has been thrown into the ongoing debate about an alleged unfair advantage given he's a dancer and choreographer who starred on Glee.
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"It's got nothing to do with ballroom. In fact, it's a disadvantage, because the posture, the way your frame is so specific to ballroom, that it's actually, sometimes, probably better to start from scratch," Bruno shared.
Bruno called out how people with prior dance experience tend to have bad habits when trying to translate their movements to the ballroom.
"It actually doesn't help, so people should be a little more open-hearted and open-minded, because everybody, from as far as I'm concerned as a judge, is exactly the same," Bruno insisted.
He added, "I will judge exactly what I see, and I guarantee you, we've had people that won and they've never, ever danced before."
Dancing with the Stars' Season 33 Mirrorball trophy champion, Joey Graziadei, and Season 34 winner, Robert Irwin, are good examples of Bruno's argument.
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Prior to Dancing with the Stars, Joey had served up tennis lessons and starred on The Bachelor's 28th season.
"And we've had dancers that did win, but not because they were dancers, because they worked as hard as anyone else," Bruno noted.
"Anyone in this competition works extremely hard, and we should be more generous. We always try to bring people down, but come on! Enjoy it."
Dancing with the Stars pro Jenna Johnson also recently defended the show's controversial practice of casting celebrities with extensive dance experience.
RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)
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Regardless of whether the Season 35 celebrities entered Dancing with the Stars with some moves of their own, it's been widely reported that this is going to be a tight race and uber-competitive season.
Dancing with the Stars is set to premiere a two-night event beginning on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.