Dancing with the Stars Opens Season 35 With Two Nights and a First Exit
Dancing with the Stars sent its first celebrity home before half its cast had danced.
ABC organised the Season 35 premiere as a two-night event, with the male celebrities performing on Tuesday and the women making their performance debut on Wednesday, 16 September. Conner Leavitt was the first contestant eliminated after Night 1, with another elimination due by the end of the Night 2 show, according to Deadline.
The season kicked off on 15 September, USA Today reported, with ABC splitting the opening dances between Tuesday and Wednesday nights. ABC titles the opener "Premiere: Night One" and dates it 16 September 2026.
Voting was part of the story. Online voting crashed during Tuesday's live show and returned for Night 2. The show planned a double elimination across its opening week, meaning two celebrities leave in week one, Deadline had earlier reported.
Wednesday belonged to the eight women. Amber Glenn and pro Pasha Pashkov performed a cha cha and scored 18 out of 30. Giada De Laurentiis and pro Alan Bersten performed a tango and scored 16 out of 30, while Ciara Miller and pro Brandon Armstrong performed a foxtrot and scored 15 out of 30.
Tatyana Ali and pro Jan Ravnik performed a jive to "Knock on Wood" and scored 12 out of 30. Julia Stiles and pro Ezra Sosa performed a quickstep to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5".
The wider cast is one of the biggest the programme has fielded. ABC lists 16 celebrities for the season, naming Glenn, Miller, De Laurentiis, Ali and Stiles alongside Jenna Dewan, Maura Higgins, Sarah Jane Nader, Harry Shum Jr., Tyler Cameron, Taylor Hanson, Connor Wood, Ezra Frech, Guillermo Rodriguez, Jackson Olson and Leavitt. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough host, with Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli as judges, and ABC says the show streams on Disney+.
Early viewing held up. Deadline reported a 24% audience boost for the premiere. An earlier Yahoo report put the opening at nearly 7 million viewers and described it as the biggest premiere in six years.
For fans, this means a short opening sprint. Two dances, two results, two exits. The floor is now set for the rest of the season.
