Jenna Johnson Says Harry Shum Jr. Pairing Feels Meant to Be as Third DWTS Win Beckons
Two-time winner Jenna Johnson says her Dancing With the Stars Season 35 partnership with Harry Shum Jr. feels exactly where she needs to be. A third win would tie her with Mark Ballas and Val Chmerkovskiy for the second-most wins ever by a pro.
Johnson described the pairing as meant to be in an interview published 29 September 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Shum Jr. is listed by ABC as part of its Grey's Anatomy cast. They opened the season with 21 out of 30 on the premiere and finished top of the leaderboard among the men, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Week two was harder. On Viral Hits Night they scored 18 out of 30. The programme airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
Johnson grew up in Utah training at the same studio where many of the show’s pros trained. She competed in Latin and trained in jazz, ballet and hip-hop on the organised convention circuit. Producers spotted her on So You Think You Can Dance and invited her to join the troupe, the show’s supporting dance team.
Her start as a pro was rough. She was eliminated first in her debut season. She has since won twice and built a career as an Emmy-nominated choreographer. Ballas and Chmerkovskiy each have three wins, so the arithmetic is clear.
Viral Hits Night gave a snapshot of the field. Jenna Dewan, partnered with Chmerkovskiy for Season 35, performed a Jive to “Animal” by Katseye and scored 21 out of 30. Maura Higgins and Ballas scored 19 out of 30 on the same night, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Elsewhere in the cast, Julia Stiles is partnered with Ezra Sosa. Johnson also spoke about her niece, Hailey Bills, and addressed what fellow pro Pasha Pashkov told her during a Viral Hits Night moment. The pipeline behind the main cast keeps moving too, with twelve dancers competing for a pro dancer spot in Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.
For viewers keeping score at home, this is a familiar restart with high stakes. A proven winner is learning a new partner from scratch. The early scores set the order, nothing more.
