His dance style was categorized as extremely masculine, and several episodes of the show featured parodies with other male contestants seeking Chaplin's advice.

[clarification needed] As a recurring theme, Chaplin would expose his chest while dancing; during one of his later performances, he deliberately teased the judges with an ending where he kept his shirt on.

It's not like I just decided to come on the show and undress.The judges generally rated his dancing positively, but call-in votes still repeatedly placed him in the bottom three couples each week.

On the results show of July 20, it was revealed that Donyelle had "beaten the curse", but Chaplin was unable to beat it himself; he was eliminated along with Martha Nichols.

For Season 3, Chaplin made an appearance as Mary Murphy's assistant for the Latin dance portion of the Las Vegas eliminations.

On July 25, 2007, Chaplin, assisted by Heidi Groskreutz, choreographed a Samba routine for contestants Lacey Schwimmer and Danny Tidwell.

On July 23, 2008, for Season 4, Chaplin choreographed an Argentine Tango routine for contestants Chelsie Hightower and Joshua Allen which earned him an Emmy nomination.

On December 5, 2008, Chaplin choreographed a Paso Doble routine for Top 4 contestants of Танцюють Всi (Ukrainian So You Think You Can Dance), Alexander Ostanin and Mariyam Turkmenbaev.