Your guide to Dancing with the Stars lore & Season 35

For years, whenever someone asked me what my guilty pleasure TV show was, I had the same answer: Dancing with the Stars.

Until recently, this was peak suburban wine-mom television, a show where celebrities appeared 15 years after the peak of their careers, occasionally prompting the reaction, “Ohhhhh, I forgot about them!”

But sometime over the past few years, the tides began to turn, and Dancing with the Stars became cool again. The celebrities got younger, the pros became celebrities in their own right, and suddenly, Gen Z was analyzing rehearsal footage and debating whether two people were secretly hooking up.

The upcoming 35th season premieres Tuesday, September 15 on ABC and Disney+, and I couldn’t be more stoked for our cast this year.

Ciara Miller & Brandon Armstrong

If you’ve been reading Worth the Chat, you already know I’m ecstatic for Summer House’s Ciara Miller to enter the ballroom. Ciara has been through the wringer over the past few seasons, so frankly, I’m just excited to watch her have some fun. She’s also ridiculously gorgeous, has legs for days, and is paired with Brandon Armstrong, who has never won the mirrorball, and I think this could be their year.

Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa

Like most millennials, Julia Stiles’ dance during her Juilliard audition in Save the Last Dance and Heath Ledger singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” to her in 10 Things I Hate About You are permanently etched into my brain, and I need her to stay in the competition long enough to pay homage to both.

Sarah Jane Nader & Hailey Bills

Love Thy Nader breakout star Sarah Jane Nader won over audiences with her candor, particularly while opening up about coming out against the backdrop of her conservative Southern upbringing. She and her partner, Hailey Bills, are the second same-sex partnership in the show’s history, following JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson in 2021.

Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas

Maura Higgins is a Love Island UK alum from one of the show’s most iconic seasons, but American audiences may know her best from last season of The Traitors, where she competed against her now-partner Mark Ballas. It’s fun when there’s a built-in rapport. Plus, Mark is ballroom royalty and one of the show's most creative choreographers. 

Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold

Known on TikTok as Fibula, Connor Wood is a stand-up comedian and podcaster who co-hosts Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast with Brooke Averick, author of this year’s rom-com Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It. Pairing him with fellow TikToker and pro Rylee Arnold was the perfect choice.

Honorable mention: Jan Ravnik returns for his second season after his run as a backup dancer on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I recently pitched on the Almost Famous podcast that he should be cast as the next Bachelor! He’s partnered with Tatyana Ali, who is reuniting with former The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star and DWTS host Alfonso Ribeiro.

And that’s just scratching the surface of this year’s cast. To fully appreciate Dancing with the Stars, you need to understand that what happens on the dance floor is only half the fun. After 20 years, this show has accumulated an absurd amount of lore: marriages, divorces, showmances, family dynasties, and feuds. So, before Season 35 begins, consider this your crash course.

Pix Plus subscribers get the full breakdown — the week's biggest moment, what's worth sending to the group chat, and Meredith's read on why it matters — Pix Plus subscribers get it all.