‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 to Feature Double Elimination in Premiere
The upcoming season of the popular dance competition will also introduce new professional dancers and a unique performance structure for its opening nights.
Season 35 of “Dancing With the Stars” will premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and Wednesday, Sept. 16, with a new cast of celebrity contestants ready to compete for the Mirrorball Trophy. Both episodes are scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and will be available for streaming on Disney+.
Premiere Night Structure
In a departure from previous seasons, each celebrity-pro pair will perform on only one of the two premiere nights. The male contestants will take the stage on the first night, followed by the female contestants on the second. Each couple will perform a dance to a No. 1 song from the year of their birth. Among the scheduled performances are Paralympian Ezra French dancing a tango to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and “Savannah Bananas” star Jackson Olson performing a cha-cha to the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” on the first night. On the second night, reality star Ciara Miller will dance a foxtrot to Whitney Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” and film and TV star Julia Stiles will perform a quickstep to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”
Double Elimination
Adding to the early-season drama, the season 35 premiere will feature a double elimination for the first time in several years. Following Tuesday’s performances, one male celebrity contestant will be eliminated. The following night, one female celebrity contestant will also be sent home, immediately raising the stakes for the remaining competitors.
New Talent in the Ballroom
The season will also mark the debut of new professional dancers. Adele Zaikman, winner of the inaugural “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro” competition, will make her pro debut partnered with Connor Leavitt. Hailey Bills, who previously performed as part of the Troupe in season 34 and competed on “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors,” will dance with reality star Sarah Jane Nader. Veteran pro Sharna Burgess is also set to return this season, marking her first appearance since season 30 in 2021.
How to Watch and Vote
Viewers can watch the live premiere episodes on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming available on Hulu. Voting will occur during each live show, exclusively for the contestants performing that night. Online voting will be accessible to fans in the U.S., its territories, and Canada via dwtsvote.abc.com. Voting via SMS/text will be available to fans on participating U.S. wireless carriers. The combined scores from the judges and viewer votes will determine which couples advance.
Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough will return as co-hosts, with judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough also returning. The full celebrity cast was revealed on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
(The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News, Disney+ and Hulu.)