Dancing With the Stars kicked off its 35th season on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, with an eight-man premiere on ABC and Disney+. The night featured birth-year No. 1 hits, live voting technical difficulties, and the elimination of Conner Leavitt from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
A Split Premiere and a Double Elimination Twist
The 35th season of Dancing With the Stars opened with a special two-night premiere designed to give each of the 16 competing celebrity couples room to shine. Rather than rolling out the entire cast at once, the production split the opening week by gender. Eight male celebrities took the ballroom floor on Tuesday, September 15, while the eight female contestants are scheduled to follow on Wednesday, September 16.
For the first time in years, the opening week features a double elimination, sending one male celebrity home after the Tuesday broadcast and clearing out one female contestant at the close of Wednesday’s show. Every pair dancing during the premiere performed to a Billboard No. 1 hit from the celebrity’s birth year, combining live judges’ scores with viewer votes to determine who stayed out of jeopardy.
Website Outages Force Text-Only Voting
Technical trouble hit the broadcast early in the evening. After the second performance of the night—delivered by The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron and professional partner Sharna Burgess—co-host Julianne Hough interrupted the flow to announce that voting on the official ABC website was down. Viewers were urged to cast their ballots via text instead.
The technical glitch persisted through the program. Co-host Alfonso Ribeiro reiterated the warning following the final dances, confirming that website voting remained offline and that the production was only accepting votes via text for the premiere night.
Scores, Stumbles, and the Night’s Top Performer
Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough doled out strict critiques right out of the gate. Hough warned the audience early, noting that expectations were at a maximum and that contestants would earn every single point. The scoring reflected that severity, ranging from early struggles to the highest marks of the night.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez and partner Witney Carson landed at the bottom of the leaderboard with a 10/30. Tyler Cameron saw his score dip after Inaba pointed out a slight lift of his partner during their tango, though he still managed a 17/30 despite judge Derek Hough accidentally calling him Dylan during critiques. Meanwhile, Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech captured early momentum by earning the first two sevens of the evening, finishing with a 20/30 for his tango to Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone
alongside Daniella Karagach.
The night’s highest score went to Grey’s Anatomy actor Harry Shum Jr. and partner Jenna Johnson. The duo earned a clean sweep of sevens from all three judges for a total of 21/30.
| Couple | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson | 21/30 | Safe |
| Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach | 20/30 | Safe |
| Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess | 17/30 | Safe |
| Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold | 16/30 | Safe |
| Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart | 16/30 | Safe |
| Jackson Olson and Emma Slater | 15/30 | Safe |
| Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman | 12/30 | Eliminated |
| Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson | 10/30 | Safe |
Conner Leavitt Sent Home in the First Elimination
At the end of the evening, Conner Leavitt and his professional partner, Adele Zaikman, pulled the lowest combined total of judges’ scores and viewer votes, making him the first celebrity eliminated from season 35. Zaikman entered the ballroom as a historic addition to the pro lineup, having won the inaugural season of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.
The competition continues on Wednesday, September 16, as the eight female celebrities—including actress Julia Stiles, chef Giada De Laurentiis, and Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn—take the stage for the second half of the opening week.
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