If you needed a sign that the universe is run by pop-culture superfans, this is it: Whitney Leavitt is trading ballroom lights for Broadway spotlights. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives breakout and Dancing With the Stars Season 34 semi-finalist is officially stepping into the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago next year, and honestly? This casting feels like fate.

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Whitney announced the news on Instagram, and the timeline is already locked in for us to count down to her debut. She starts February 2, 2026 at the Ambassador Theatre, taking over the iconic role for a six-week limited engagement through March 15, 2026. It’s her first professional theatrical run, which makes this leap feel even more electric. 

Who Even Is Whitney Leavitt?

Fandom Daily readers already know there’s a special kind of celebrity who feels like they belong to multiple universes at once, and Whitney is exactly that. She’s Utah-based, a mom of three, and one of the rare internet stars who parlayed viral talent into full-scale mainstream heat. Over the last few years, she’s built a following of over four million by posting dance videos that are equal parts sharp technique, family comedy, and lifestyle content that somehow feels glossy and real at the same time.

Then came the show that turned her into a bona fide reality-TV force: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Whether you watched for the drama, the cultural snapshot, or the way the cast can turn a casual conversation into a cliffhanger, Whitney emerged as one of the faces you couldn’t look away from. She brought humor, messiness, vulnerability, and that quietly fearless vibe that makes fandoms attach fast and hard. 

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And just when people thought they had her lane figured out, she cha-cha’d into a brand-new one.

The DWTS Run That Quietly Screamed “Broadway Next”

Whitney’s Dancing With the Stars era wasn’t just a fun detour; it was a full performance glow-up in public. Making it to the semifinals on Season 34 isn’t a small feat, especially when the show demands both precision and personality at max volume. Week after week, she proved she could handle choreography, sell emotion, and keep the camera obsessed, which is basically the Chicago job description.

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The delicious cherry on top? She literally nodded to Chicago during her DWTS run when she and Mark Ballas performed an Argentine tango to “Cell Block Tango.” At the time, it felt like a cool themed choice. Now it reads like the soft-launch we all missed. Fosse-coded foreshadowing. A prophecy in fishnets.

Roxie Hart Energy Looks Good on Her

Roxie Hart is a role that thrives on charisma, ambition, and a little sparkle-wrapped chaos. She’s a woman who wants the world to look at her, and knows exactly how to make that happen. Whitney’s career so far has that same gravitational pull. From building an online audience through dance, to thriving inside reality TV’s pressure cooker, to holding her own on live network television, she’s shown she can command attention without ever seeming like she’s trying too hard. She just is the moment.

There’s also something deeply satisfying about seeing someone with an audience this passionate take on a role with this much legacy. Chicago loves a star who can bring fresh energy to Roxie, and Whitney isn’t walking in cold, she’s arriving with fandoms already in motion behind her.

The Fandom Crossover We Live For

Whitney joining Chicago isn’t just a casting headline; it’s a full intersection event. It’s MomTok-to-Broadway. It’s reality TV to classic musical theater. It’s DWTS stans, Mormon Wives devotees, and Broadway lovers suddenly sharing the same group chat.

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Curtain Call? More Like “See You in New York”

Whitney has called this a pinch-me dream, and you can feel that nervous-excited, “am I really doing this?” energy in the way she talks about moving her life to New York for eight shows a week. But if her journey has taught fandom anything, it’s that she doesn’t do things halfway. She commits, she learns fast, and she performs like she’s got something to prove, even when she doesn’t.

So yes, Broadway is about to meet Whitney Leavitt. But more importantly, Chicago is about to get a Roxie Hart whose whole career has been a slow build to center stage. February can’t come soon enough.

Photo Credit: ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.