DWTS Sails Into Yacht Rock Night With 13 Couples Left

Thirteen couples took the floor for Yacht Rock Night on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, the third themed week of Dancing with the Stars Season 35.

The night leaned into soft rock. ABC billed the dances as set to “smooth grooves, soft-rock classics and iconic hits that defined the yacht rock era,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Songs on the playlist included “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. and “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes.

Still in the hunt for the mirrorball trophy going into the night were Tatyana Ali, Tyler Cameron, Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, Amber Glenn, Taylor Hanson, Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller, Jackson Olson, Guillermo Rodriguez, Harry Shum Jr., Julia Stiles and Connor Wood. Their pro pairings included Dewan with Val Chmerkovskiy, Miller with Brandon Armstrong, Cameron with Sharna Burgess, Stiles with Ezra Sosa, Olson with Emma Slater, Wood with Rylee Arnold, Frech with Daniella Karagach, Ali with Jan Ravnik, Glenn with Pasha Pashkov, Rodriguez with Witney Carson, Hanson with Britt Stewart, Shum with Jenna Johnson and Higgins with Mark Ballas.

The field started at 16 new celebrities, per ABC. Three had already left. Conner Leavitt and Sarah Jane Nader went out across the two-part premiere, dated September 16 and September 17 on ABC’s listings, with the second night introducing the female celebrities. Chef and television host Giada De Laurentiis and partner Alan Bersten followed on Viral Hits Night on September 23, after performing a salsa.

One couple leaves at the end of each episode. The couple with the lowest combined total of judges’ scores and viewer votes goes home.

Voting is live and tight. Viewers get up to 10 votes per couple, per voting method, through ABC’s website and by text. Ballots open during the East Coast airing and close shortly after the final dance, which means West Coast viewers vote between 5 p.m. PT and roughly 6:45 p.m. PT.

The show airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m., shown at the same time on ABC and Disney+. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough host. ABC lists Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli as judges on the panel of ballroom experts who score the choreographed routines.

For fans, this means the contest is now a straight survival run. No second chances, no extra weeks to build support. Every soft-rock shuffle counts.