"Dancing with the Stars" returns Tuesday night for its milestone 35th season, launching with a two-night premiere event on Sept. 15 and 16. According to the Asbury Park Press, the long-running competition series will air live at 8 p.m. Eastern on both ABC and Disney+, with each episode streaming on Hulu the following day. Fifteen new celebrity contestants are set to compete for the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough are all returning to the judges' panel, preserving the show's familiar on-air chemistry. The lineup of competitors spans an unusually wide range of fame, from Oscar-nominated actors to Olympic medalists, celebrity chefs and viral internet personalities.
Among the headliners are actress Julia Stiles, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Tatyana Ali, "Grey's Anatomy" alum Harry Shum Jr. and "The Rookie" star Jenna Dewan. The cast also includes Food Network mainstay Giada De Laurentiis, who partners with pro Alan Bersten, and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" fixture Guillermo Rodriguez, paired with Witney Carson.
The athlete contingent features Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech, skating alongside Daniella Karagach, and Olympic gold medalist figure skater Amber Glenn with Pasha Pashkov. Pop culture fans will recognize Taylor Hanson of the band Hanson, reality stars Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller and Conner Leavitt, and "Savannah Bananas" sensation Jackson Olson.
Rounding out the field are TV host Tyler Cameron, "Love Thy Nader" star Sarah Jane Nader, comedian and podcaster Connor Wood, and TikTok-famous "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" personality Conner Leavitt. Each celebrity has been matched with a professional dancer for the season.
The two-night premiere format has become something of a tradition for ABC in recent years, giving the network a chance to introduce a sprawling cast before the competition narrows. Episodes typically air weekly on Tuesdays, with results and eliminations determined by a combination of judges' scores and viewer votes.
For cord-cutters, Disney+ offers a live-streaming option for subscribers, while Hulu remains the destination for next-day viewing. That dual-platform strategy reflects the broader shift in broadcast television, where networks increasingly rely on streaming companions to hold onto younger audiences who no longer watch live TV in real time.
Why this matters
"Dancing with the Stars" remains one of the few unscripted broadcast franchises that consistently draws a broad, multi-generational audience, and its 35-season run places it among the longest-running prime-time entertainment shows in American television history. The show has also served as a career-rehabilitation and visibility platform for actors, athletes and personalities outside the Hollywood mainstream — a dynamic that explains this season's eclectic mix of Olympians, chefs and internet celebrities. Its performance matters not just for ABC's fall ratings but for Disney's broader streaming strategy, since live-event programming has become a key tool for retaining Disney+ subscribers.
Whether Season 35 can recapture the cultural conversation in an era of fragmented viewership will depend largely on how quickly the new cast generates viral moments on the dance floor.
