(Photo: Disney/Eric McCandless)
ABC is reopening the ballroom for the 2026-27 TV season. The network has renewed Dancing with the Stars for a 35th cycle. The series’ 34th season of 11 episodes finished airing in November.
A competition series, the Dancing with the Stars TV show is hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, with Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough serving as judges. On the show, celebrities are paired with professional dancers, and each couple performs predetermined dances. They compete against the participants for judges’ points and audience votes. The couple that receives the lowest combined score is eliminated each week. By the end, one couple will win the coveted trophy. Celebrities who competed in cycle 34 are Jen Affleck, Hilaria Baldwin, Jordan Chiles, Baron Davis, Alix Earle, Dylan Efron, Corey Feldman, Danielle Fishel, Elaine Hendrix, Scott Hoying, Robert Irwin, Lauren Jauregui, Whitney Leavitt, and Andy Richter. The dancers are Jan Ravnik, Gleb Savchenko, Ezra Sosa, Britt Stewart, Val Chmerkovskiy, Daniella Karagach, Jenna Johnson, Pasha Pashkov, Alan Bersten, Rylee Arnold, Witney Carson, Brandon Armstrong, Mark Ballas, and Emma Slater.
Airing on Tuesday nights, the 34th season of Dancing with the Stars averaged a 1.34 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.49 million viewers (includes DVR playback through 3:00 AM). Compared to season 33, that’s up by 83% in the demo and up by 33% in viewership. It’s the network’s highest-rated series by far of the current season.
The 35th anniversary season is likely to debut in the fall. ABC has yet to announce its 2026-27 TV season schedule but we do know that two of the celebrity contestants are Ciara Miller (Summer House) and Maura Higgins (The Traitors). In the meantime, the network has orders a spin-off series, Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, which will feature 12 up-and-coming dancers as they compete to be a pro dancer in season 35 of the original show.
What do you think? How long have you watched this competition series? Are you glad that Dancing with the Stars has been renewed for a 35th season by ABC?
