‘DWTS’ Season 35 brings back brutal premiere twist after eight years
The ballroom will not ease its newest celebrities into the competition when ‘Dancing With the Stars’ returns for Season 35. ABC’s dance series is reviving a premiere-week format it hasn't used since 2018, this time with a gender-based split. The format will determine how eliminations work across the two-night premiere.
The change is a pair of immediate eliminations. As Us Magazine reported, one female celebrity will be sent home after the women compete on September 15, while one male celebrity will leave after the men’s performances on September 16. Season 35 will therefore lose two contestants during its opening week, with each celebrity initially competing only against others in their group. The arrangement differs from the 2018 version because this season also divides the cast by gender.
Amanda Hirsch confirmed the plan during the September 10 episode of Hulu’s ‘Get Real’ podcast. The two-time mirrorball champion Mark Ballas said, “I don’t even think I was on the show when that happened.” He then addressed the gender split, “This is a first.…It’s not even an even playing field, right? It’s, like, the cast is split in half. They’re, kind of, like, ‘Boys over there, girls over here; one of you is going from each group.’ So, that’s a little different.”
Ballas is partnered with ‘Love Island UK’ alum Maura Higgins, who is also his ‘The Traitors’ Season 4 costar. “That is so scary,” Higgins said after hearing about the eliminations. “Yeah, I have to work hard.” Higgins will compete on the first night alongside the other female celebrities.
Premiere week will also give every celebrity a personal song connection. The contestants will dance to tracks released in their birth years, though most selections and dance styles remain under wraps. Higgins chose Alannah Myles’ 1989 song ‘Black Velvet’ and was assigned a foxtrot. “It’s such a good song,” she said. “I love that song — and my mother loves that song. She loves it.”
Ballas called it his “favorite” Week 1 song. “As soon as I started listening to it, I was kinda like, ‘Oh, this is a good first impression for her,’” he said. The Season 35 cast also includes Jenna Dewan, Harry Shum Jr., Ezra Frech, Julia Stiles, Guillermo Rodriguez, and Ciara Miller. ‘Dancing With the Stars’ premieres September 15 and September 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.
