Drawpie Explainers

DWTS Season 35 Cast: All 16 Couples, Premiere Date, Channel & Live Stream

Update log (2)
  • — Rewritten the same day, once the cast was actually out. An earlier refresh this morning was researched at about 4:51 a.m. Eastern — roughly two hours BEFORE the Good Morning America segment that announced the cast — so it still said ABC had published no cast list, still described the reveal in the future tense, and still carried ten names. There are 16 couples. Every pairing below was checked against two independent sources that agree.
  • — Earlier the same day, before the reveal: corrected the announcement-provenance column (Miller and Higgins came at Hulu's Get Real event on 22 April, not the Disney upfront; Olson at the upfront on 12 May) and added Adele Zaikman, who won The Next Pro on 31 August and takes the new professional slot.
DWTS Season 35 Cast: All 16 Couples, Premiere Date, Channel & Live Stream
Photo by Preillumination SeTh on Unsplash
Key takeaways
  • All 16 celebrity-professional pairings for Dancing with the Stars season 35 were announced on Good Morning America on Wednesday 2 September 2026.
  • Sixteen couples ties the largest cast in the show’s history, level with seasons 9 and 31.
  • Season 35 premieres across two nights — Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September, 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming live on Disney+ and next-day on Hulu.
  • Reigning season 34 champion Witney Carson partners Guillermo Rodriguez of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Sharna Burgess returns from a multi-year absence, with Tyler Cameron.
  • The same-sex pairing reported ahead of the announcement was correct: Sarah Jane Nader is partnered with professional Hailey Bills.
  • Adele Zaikman, who won The Next Pro on 31 August, went straight into the cast with Conner Leavitt.

All 16 couples for season 35 of Dancing with the Stars were announced on Good Morning America on Wednesday 2 September 2026. Sixteen is the largest cast the show has ever fielded, tying seasons 9 and 31.

The two-night premiere is Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September, 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

The full season 35 cast

CelebrityKnown forProfessional partner
Tatyana AliThe Fresh Prince of Bel-AirJan Ravnik
Tyler CameronThe BacheloretteSharna Burgess
Giada De LaurentiisFood Network chefAlan Bersten
Jenna DewanThe RookieVal Chmerkovskiy
Ezra FrechParalympic athleteDaniella Karagach
Amber GlennOlympic figure skaterPasha Pashkov
Taylor HansonHansonBritt Stewart
Maura HigginsLove Island, The TraitorsMark Ballas
Conner LeavittSecret Lives of Mormon WivesAdele Zaikman
Ciara MillerSummer HouseBrandon Armstrong
Sarah Jane NaderLove Thy NaderHailey Bills
Jackson OlsonSavannah BananasEmma Slater
Guillermo RodriguezJimmy Kimmel Live!Witney Carson
Harry Shum Jr.Glee, Grey’s AnatomyJenna Johnson
Julia StilesSave the Last DanceEzra Sosa
Connor WoodComedian and podcasterRylee Arnold

Every row was checked against two independent sources that agree on all 16.

The pairings worth knowing about

Witney Carson with Guillermo Rodriguez. Carson won season 34 and comes back partnered with Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime sidekick — the pairing that was announced early, in August, well ahead of the rest.

Sharna Burgess with Tyler Cameron. Burgess returns to the ballroom after a multi-year absence, drawing the Bachelorette alum.

Adele Zaikman with Conner Leavitt. Zaikman won The Next Pro on 31 August and was in the season 35 cast two days later. That is about as fast a promotion as the format allows.

Sarah Jane Nader with Hailey Bills. Ahead of the announcement, TMZ reported that Nader would be partnered with a female professional. That turned out to be right. It follows JoJo Siwa with Jenna Johnson in season 30 and Shangela with Gleb Savchenko in season 31.

Julia Stiles with Ezra Sosa. Stiles starred in Save the Last Dance, a film about dancing, which the show will not let anyone forget.

When does DWTS season 35 premiere?

Tuesday 15 September and Wednesday 16 September 2026, both nights at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT.

It is a two-night launch rather than a single premiere, which the show has used before to get all 16 couples on the floor without a four-hour episode.

What channel is DWTS on, and how do I stream it?

WhereWhen
ABCLive, 8 p.m. ET
Disney+Live, simultaneously
HuluNext day

The live/next-day split is the thing to get right. If you want to vote or avoid spoilers, ABC and Disney+ are the live options; Hulu is catch-up.

For cord-cutters, ABC is carried by the main live-TV streaming bundles, and Disney+ carries the show live in its own right — that arrangement has been running for several seasons now.

Who is hosting and judging season 35?

Hosts: Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough.

Judges: Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.

Both panels are unchanged, which after several seasons of turnover is itself the news.

How many couples are on DWTS season 35?

Sixteen — tying the largest cast in the show’s history, alongside season 9 and season 31.

That is why the premiere runs across two nights. Sixteen couples cannot dance in one two-hour episode, so the field is split.

Is Dancing with the Stars on Netflix or Prime Video?

No. Season 35 is on ABC, Disney+ and Hulu only.

There is no Netflix or Prime Video route to the current season in the US. Older seasons have moved around between services over the years, but the live show has been an ABC and Disney property throughout.

Who is Adele Zaikman?

The newest professional on the cast, and the fastest arrival in the group.

She won The Next Pro on 31 August 2026 — the competition that awards a professional slot on the main show — and was announced as Conner Leavitt’s partner on 2 September, two days later.

Sources

Cast and pairings: TVLine’s season 35 cast list and Wikipedia’s season 35 couples table, which agree on all 16. Premiere dates, hosts and judges: ABC News/GMA. The cast was announced on Good Morning America on 2 September 2026.

How we verified this
All 16 pairings were checked against two independent sources that agree completely — TVLine’s cast list and Wikipedia’s couples table. Every celebrity, and every professional, matches across both. ✅ Premiere dates, hosts and judges come from ABC’s own reporting at ABC News/GMA, which is the network that broadcast the announcement. 🔴 This page was wrong yesterday and this update says why. The previous version was refreshed on 2 September, but the research behind it ran at roughly 4:51 a.m. Eastern — about two hours before the Good Morning America segment that announced the cast. It therefore still stated that ABC had published no cast list, still wrote about the reveal in the future tense, and still listed ten celebrities. There are 16. ⚠️ The cast was announced 2 September; nobody has danced yet. Nothing here is a judgement of anyone’s chances, and no odds or betting lines appear on this page in any form. ⚠️ Streaming availability differs by service. ABC and Disney+ carry it live; Hulu is next-day. That distinction matters if you are trying to watch along with the vote.