Dancing With the Stars Season 35: 5 Big Changes
Dancing With the Stars Season 35 is shaping up to be one of the show’s biggest and most ambitious seasons yet. After a record-breaking previous season, producers are expanding the cast, introducing new professional dancers and making several strategic changes designed to keep viewers engaged throughout the long gap between seasons.
Executive producer Conrad Green recently explained why the production team decided to make the ballroom bigger this year. The upcoming season will feature 16 celebrity-professional couples, compared with 14 in the previous season, while two new professional dancers are also joining the competition.
One of the most talked-about developments is an all-female partnership between reality star Sarah Jane Nader and newcomer Hailey Bills. Green explained that the pairing was driven by chemistry and Nader’s preference for having a female dance partner.
The changes come at a crucial moment for the ABC competition series. Season 34 delivered its most-watched finale in a decade, drawing 9.24 million total viewers and 72 million votes, according to the report published by Yahoo.
Rather than simply repeating the formula that worked last year, producers are attempting to build on that momentum.
Dancing With the Stars Season 35 Gets a Bigger Cast
The most obvious change in Dancing With the Stars Season 35 is the size of the competition.
The new season will feature 16 couples competing for the Mirrorball Trophy. That represents an increase from the 14 couples featured previously.
Green said the expansion was partly motivated by the show’s growing popularity. But there was also a practical reason.
The season will open with two two-hour episodes. With seven couples performing in each of those episodes, producers faced a challenge in creating enough content to fill the broadcasts.
Adding more couples gives the show additional performances and more opportunities to introduce the audience to its new cast.
The expanded field also gives producers more flexibility throughout the season.
With 16 celebrities competing, there are more personalities, storylines and potential fan favorites for viewers to follow. It also creates additional opportunities for professional dancers who may otherwise struggle to secure prominent celebrity partners.
The move reflects how much the franchise has grown.
After years in which reality competition television faced increasingly fragmented audiences, DWTS has managed to rebuild significant interest. Producers now appear determined to capitalize on that momentum rather than allow it to fade during the offseason.
Why Producers Launched The Next Pro
Another major change surrounding Dancing With the Stars Season 35 was the launch of the summer spinoff Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.
The new series gave 12 aspiring professional dancers the opportunity to compete for a place on the main show’s professional roster. ABC described the competition as a route toward earning a professional position for Season 35.
That strategy solved two problems at once.
First, it gave fans something connected to DWTS to watch during the long offseason.
Second, it created a new pathway for professional dancers to enter the flagship program.
The timing was particularly deliberate.
The Next Pro concluded shortly before the Season 35 cast announcement, with Adele Zaikman winning the competition and earning a place in the main series. Her victory was announced just days before the larger Season 35 cast reveal.
Green has suggested that the spinoff could potentially return, although the producers are still considering how frequently it should be used.
He has cautioned that producing the competition every year might create too much turnover among professional dancers. Instead, the team may treat it as a companion series that appears when the timing makes sense.
That approach could allow the producers to maintain the value of the concept without making the main show feel constantly overhauled.
Adele Zaikman Becomes a Major New Pro
Adele Zaikman is one of the most important new faces entering the ballroom.
The Latin dance specialist won Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro after competing against AJ Pritchard and Selena Hamilton in the finale. Her victory earned her a professional position on the flagship series.
Green has already praised Zaikman’s technical ability.
He described her as one of the strongest Latin dancers the show has had, while also acknowledging that adapting from competitive ballroom dancing to the very different demands of DWTS could present challenges.
That distinction is important.
A professional dancer on DWTS is not simply performing for judges. The dancer must teach a celebrity who may have little or no ballroom experience.
The professional is simultaneously a choreographer, coach, performer, mentor and emotional support system.
That is one reason the producers created The Next Pro in the first place.
The competition was designed to test more than raw dancing ability. The winner needed to demonstrate that they could work effectively with others and handle the unique pressures of television.
Zaikman now gets the chance to prove that her competitive experience can translate to the main ballroom.
Hailey Bills Gets Her First Season as a Pro
Hailey Bills represents a different path into the professional lineup.
Unlike Zaikman, Bills did not win The Next Pro.
She previously appeared as part of the DWTS troupe and became increasingly familiar to fans. Her visibility also grew during the show’s national tour.
Green wanted the franchise to create multiple pathways into the professional cast rather than relying exclusively on the new spinoff.
Bills is therefore an example of how a dancer can develop within the existing DWTS ecosystem before earning a full professional role.
That could become an important model for the future.
The show has a large group of talented dancers who already understand its production style. Giving troupe members opportunities to move into celebrity partnerships allows producers to reward that experience while introducing fresh personalities.
For Bills, however, becoming a professional changes the responsibility considerably.
As part of the troupe, she performed alongside established professionals.
As a pro, she must teach, choreograph and guide a celebrity through the competition.
Her first partner is Sarah Jane Nader.
The All-Female Pairing Is One of the Season’s Biggest Stories
The partnership between Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills is one of the most significant developments in Dancing With the Stars Season 35.
Nader, known from the reality series Love Thy Nader, specifically wanted a female professional partner. Green said the production team repeatedly returned to the combination because the two dancers appeared to work naturally together.
The pairing represents only the second female-female partnership in the show’s history, according to current coverage.
The first was JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson in Season 30.
The show has also previously featured same-sex partnerships involving Shangela and Gleb Savchenko in Season 31.
The significance of the new pairing extends beyond representation.
DWTS traditionally structures its partnerships around male-female combinations, but the program has increasingly experimented with different configurations as its cast and audience have evolved.
For producers, the most important consideration was apparently whether Nader and Bills worked well together.
Green said Nader wanted a female partner and that the production team liked the dynamic between the two.
That makes the pairing both a cultural milestone and a practical casting decision.
Why the Mormon Wives Connection Matters
The casting also includes an interesting connection to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Nader’s sister previously competed on DWTS, giving the family an existing relationship with the show.
Meanwhile, Conner Leavitt, the husband of Whitney Leavitt, will compete this season alongside new professional Adele Zaikman. Green said the production team got to know Conner during the previous season and found him particularly likable and supportive.
The casting demonstrates how DWTS increasingly draws from interconnected reality television communities.
Rather than relying exclusively on traditional Hollywood stars, the show has embraced reality personalities, athletes, social media figures and television personalities.
That strategy has helped broaden the definition of celebrity.
It also gives viewers an immediate reason to become invested.
Fans who know someone from another reality series may follow that person into DWTS, creating an audience crossover that benefits both programs.
Producers Are Trying to Keep Season 34’s Momentum Alive
The biggest challenge for Dancing With the Stars Season 35 may not be finding celebrities.
It may be maintaining interest.
Season 34 was a major success for the franchise. The finale became the show’s most-watched in a decade, while the enormous voting total demonstrated that viewers were deeply invested in the competition.
But DWTS traditionally has a long offseason.
Green said producers did not want to allow the momentum to disappear for eight months.
That is one reason the team began announcing some Season 35 contestants months before the premiere.
The strategy essentially turns the offseason into an extended promotional campaign.
Instead of one huge announcement followed by a long wait, viewers receive pieces of information over time.
A new celebrity is announced.
Then a professional returns.
Then another contestant is revealed.
Then The Next Pro provides an entire summer of DWTS-related programming.
By the time Season 35 begins, viewers have already spent months discussing the cast.
The Season 35 Cast Is Designed for Variety
The celebrity lineup reflects the producers’ broader approach to casting.
The season includes actors, athletes, musicians, reality personalities and television figures.
Among the announced celebrities are Tatyana Ali, Tyler Cameron, Giada De Laurentiis, Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, Amber Glenn, Taylor Hanson, Guillermo Rodriguez, Harry Shum Jr., Julia Stiles and Connor Wood.
That variety is central to the DWTS formula.
The show does not simply need the most famous celebrities.
It needs personalities who can generate different types of stories.
An Olympic athlete brings a competitive angle.
An actor brings performance experience.
A reality star brings an established fan base.
A comedian can create entertainment away from the dance floor.
A singer may have rhythm but still need to learn ballroom technique.
That combination creates unpredictable results.
Dancing With the Stars Is Changing Its Definition of Celebrity
The evolution of the cast reflects a larger change in entertainment.
Celebrity culture is no longer dominated exclusively by movie stars and television actors.
Social media personalities, reality stars, athletes and online creators can now command enormous audiences.
DWTS has adapted accordingly.
Recent seasons have increasingly focused on people who are culturally relevant at the moment rather than simply people who were famous decades ago.
Casting director Deena Katz has previously explained that producers want contestants who genuinely want to participate. The team believes viewers can tell when someone is excited to be on the show rather than simply fulfilling a promotional obligation.
That philosophy appears to be continuing into Season 35.
The goal is not just recognition.
It is enthusiasm.
Why Season 35 Could Be Bigger Than Last Year
The combination of a larger cast, new professional dancers, the new spinoff and continued audience interest gives Dancing With the Stars Season 35 a strong foundation.
However, expansion also creates risks.
More couples mean more performances, but they also mean more people competing for screen time.
New professional dancers need to establish chemistry with celebrities quickly.
The producers must also make sure the season does not become overcrowded.
The first two episodes will be especially important because they must introduce 16 couples while maintaining enough room for individual stories.
Green’s explanation suggests that the larger cast is partly a response to that challenge.
Instead of stretching a smaller lineup across two lengthy premiere episodes, producers can use the additional couples to create a faster and more energetic opening.
When Does Dancing With the Stars Season 35 Premiere?
Fans will not have to wait much longer.
Dancing With the Stars Season 35 premieres September 15 and 16, 2026, with a two-night opening event on ABC and Disney+.
The two-night format will give viewers their first extended look at the 16 celebrity-professional partnerships.
It will also immediately test whether the show’s expanded format works.
With more couples, new professionals and several unusual pairings, the opening episodes could establish the storylines that dominate the rest of the season.
What Comes Next for DWTS?
The success of Season 35 could influence how the franchise develops in future years.
If the expanded cast performs well with viewers, 16 couples could become the new standard.
If The Next Pro proves successful, ABC may continue using it as a pathway for professional dancers.
The producers could also experiment with additional companion programming during the offseason.
But Green has indicated that the team does not want change simply for the sake of change.
The challenge is finding the right balance.
DWTS has built a recognizable format over more than two decades. Too little innovation could make the show feel stale, while too much change could alienate longtime viewers.
Season 35 is therefore an important experiment.
It attempts to make the franchise feel larger without losing the personality that brought viewers back.
Conclusion
Dancing With the Stars Season 35 is entering the ballroom with a noticeably different strategy.
The competition will feature 16 couples, two new professional dancers and an all-female partnership between Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills. Meanwhile, Adele Zaikman’s arrival through The Next Pro gives the franchise a new way to identify and develop professional talent.
Behind those changes is a broader effort to capitalize on the show’s renewed popularity.
Season 34 proved that DWTS can still become a major television event. Now producers are attempting to turn that success into a longer-running entertainment ecosystem rather than something that peaks once a year.
The result could be one of the show’s most interesting seasons in years.
With a larger cast, fresh professional talent, familiar stars and several unconventional partnerships, Season 35 has plenty of ingredients for another breakout run.
The real test begins when the ballroom lights come on September 15.
