Dylan Efron reflects on vulnerability, fear, and finding confidence on Dancing with the Stars

Dylan Efron says stepping onto the Dancing with the Stars stage turned fear into confidence as he learned to stop hiding and let viewers see who he really is.

The 33-year-old former producer and content creator finished fourth on season 34 after 12 weeks of live routines, following his win on The Traitors season 3 and the launch of his YouTube series Everything’s a Competition with Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, he calls the shift on Dancing with the Stars gradual but unmistakable: 

“That feeling of going on stage, that first week versus the last time I was on stage, it was so different. I've never been a really fast learner. I love putting in the effort, but there's things that just take time. And being able to go out there for 12 straight weeks and do a performance, it helps. I wasn't able to get it perfect the first time, and maybe not even the last time, but the feeling inside is so different.”

Dylan Efron on Dancing with the Stars and being vulnerable

Before Dancing with the Stars, Dylan Efron built much of his career off-camera. He worked as a production coordinator and later served as a producer on his brother Zac Efron’s Netflix series Down to Earth with Zac Efron.

That background shaped how he approached Dancing with the Stars, a competition that demanded public risk rather than quiet preparation.

On Dancing with the Stars, the margin for hiding was nonexistent, and each live performance required Efron to confront discomfort in real time.

Efron used confessionals and packages to talk about growing up in Zac Efron’s shadow and wanting to be seen as more than “Zac’s brother.”

He says the show finally let people “know who I am” as an individual. That required him to lean into emotion rather than hold it back. He said,

“That comes from just being vulnerable. When you sign up for these reality shows, you're like, ‘Oh, I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna do that.’ But then in real life, I'm vulnerable. I say the things I feel.”

He contrasts this with how he can come across online. He said,

“I think when you're just posting pictures on Instagram, people will be like, ‘Oh, he is so cocky,' or whatever. Like, you don't know any truth behind anything.”

Longer formats like The Traitors and Dancing with the Stars, in his view, give room for audiences to see his self-doubt and effort instead of only finished images.

By the finale, he says, “By that final dance, I felt so comfortable out there,” crediting Dancing with the Stars for helping him perform under pressure rather than freeze.

Support systems and what comes next

Family and close friends surrounded him through the run of Dancing with the Stars, including his girlfriend Courtney King and his siblings. He said,

“I was doing it for myself, but then at the end of the day, my dad and girlfriend would show up, and support, and that meant everything to me.”

Seeing his family in the crowd helped him stop fixating on possible mistakes. He remembers thinking through his sister’s eyes, 

“‘Oh my gosh, this is pretty cool.’ Like, stop worrying if I'm gonna mess up. Just go out there and put on a show.”

Mariano also became part of his Dancing with the Stars ritual. Describing how a check-in became a good-luck habit before going live, Efron noted,

“He was texting me every day [during DWTS]. We talked on the phone like almost every show day.”

Away from Dancing with the Stars, Efron is now focused on continuing Everything’s a Competition and catching his breath after months of nonstop work.

Looking ahead, he says he wants to “keep pushing” into what scares him, including trying acting, and sums up the lesson from Dancing with the Stars this way: 

“I have to prove myself wrong all the time… there's a little bit of fear from doing this type of thing because I've never been good at it, but let's change that. Dancing with the Stars really helped me with that.”

Stay tuned for more updates.