'Dancing With The Stars' showrunner teases major news for spinoff after adding three major stars to Season 35
Although Season 35 of 'Dancing With The Stars' will take a few more months to arrive, there's no denying the fact that it's shaping up to be a landmark season. As is widely known, ABC will announce the full list of celebrity participants and pro dancers participating in the upcoming season of 'DWTS' on the September 2 episode of 'Good Morning America.' Nevertheless, to build on the hype leading up to the impending premiere, the network has released the names of the first three stars cast in the next installment along with another exciting news.
ABC will also debut its spinoff, 'Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro,' this summer. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Conrad Green confirmed that The Next Pro “is secretly in the bank”: “[The Next Pro shows] just how many different skills you need to be a pro on Dancing With the Stars. Just being a good ballroom or Latin dancer is the basics,” he said. “But you have to be able to do group dancing, choreograph, manage difficult people, manage time pressure, format a dance, and choreograph for a one-minute routine that’s got moments that might get picked up on social media that might make your couple pop.”
Ciara Miller, of 'Summer House' fame, was one of the first two celebrities cast for 'DWTS' Season 35. Miller's casting was confirmed at Hulu‘s 'Get Real House 2026.' The show's executive producer and casting head, Deena Katz, noted in an interview with THR that picking up Miller for the upcoming season “was a really of the moment” decision and that she knew the next 'Aftersun' co-host from her time on the third season of 'Traitors'. Katz further added, "I already knew Ciara. She was on Traitors, and she’s wonderful. She’s stunning, she’s gorgeous; she’s all these things. And then the stuff that happened to her, it was a really of-the-moment thing that we all felt like it was the right time. We really wanted her on the show, but it was also the right time to announce her."
Moving on, the next star to be roped in for the next season of ABC's dancing competition show is the Savannah Bananas star, Jackson Olson. The baseball sensation is a star player for the popular Georgia-based team and wears their jersey as a second baseman. In addition to working wonders in the field, Olson is also a social media phenomenon and content creator, with over 2 million followers on TikTok and over 1 million on Instagram. Olson's casting highlights the recent 'DWTS' trend of tapping social media stars with a sports angle, and this has worked out for the show in the past.
Finally, the third and final entry is Maura Higgins of 'The Traitors' and 'Love Island' fame. Higgins first stepped into the world of reality television back in 2019 and was eventually placed as a second runner-up on the recent season of 'The Traitors'. After announcing her casting, Katz recollected that Higgins had always been interested in participating in the show. Katz remarked, "(Maura) texts me every time she’s coming to L.A. She wants to have lunch. She’s been dying to do the show, and she’s fantastic. She’s great television." 'DWTS' Season 35 will arrive sometime in the fall of this year.
