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'DWTS' Season 35 Cast Unveiled: Chef Giada, 'Bachelorette' Hunk Tyler Cameron and Hanson's Taylor Join the Ballroom
ABC pulled back the curtain on a 16-star "Dancing with the Stars" lineup Wednesday morning, pairing Julia Stiles, Jenna Dewan, Giada De Laurentiis and a crop of reality-TV faces with pros for a two-night season 35 premiere.
"Dancing with the Stars" finally spilled its season 35 secret. The full 16-celebrity cast was revealed live on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, kicking off a scramble of fan reactions, bracket predictions and at least one heartfelt admission about old reality-TV wounds.
The lineup mixes Hollywood pedigree with reality-TV firepower. Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Julia Stiles and "Step Up" star Jenna Dewan headline the actor contingent, joined by "Glee" alum Harry Shum Jr. Food Network favorite Giada De Laurentiis and "Fresh Prince" veteran Tatyana Ali round out the star-power side, while music comes courtesy of Hanson's Taylor Hanson. Sports fans get Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech and Olympic figure skating champion Amber Glenn.
Reality television supplies the rest of the roster: "Bachelorette" alum Tyler Cameron, "Summer House" star Ciara Miller, "Traitors" runner-up Maura Higgins, "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" husband Conner Leavitt, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, Savannah Bananas performer Jackson Olson, social-media personality Connor Wood, and Sarah Jane Nader, sister of model Brooks Nader.
The Partner Pairings
According to the full breakdown reported by TV Insider and Bustle, Dewan lands veteran champion Val Chmerkovskiy, De Laurentiis is paired with Alan Bersten, and Stiles gets Ezra Sosa. Cameron is teamed with Sharna Burgess, who is competing for the first time since 2021, while Leavitt draws Adele Zaikman, the newly minted winner of the show's inaugural "Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro" spinoff competition held August 31.
Higgins, who was runner-up on "The Traitors" earlier this year, is paired with Mark Ballas and used her GMA moment to reflect on a bruising reality-TV history. "We already have that brother-sister relationship. We have a lot of fun together. We just take the piss out of each other," she said of her new partner, according to TMZ's report on the reveal — a notable contrast, fans quickly pointed out online, to her guarded dynamic with "Traitors" castmate Rob Rausch.
"We already have that brother-sister relationship. We have a lot of fun together. We just take the piss out of each other." — Maura Higgins on new partner Mark Ballas
Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough return as co-hosts, with Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli back behind the judges' desk. Early oddsmaking chatter has already zeroed in on Dewan and Shum Jr. as front-runners given their professional dance backgrounds, though ballroom veterans note that pre-season buzz rarely predicts the Mirrorball winner.
Season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere event Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with episodes streaming on Hulu the next day. Fans should expect the customary flood of rehearsal-footage teasers and partner-chemistry speculation over the next two weeks as the ballroom regulars start drilling their season openers.