‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 Cast Is Here: Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles, Harry Shum Jr. & More
Reality competition shows live and die by their casting, and few franchises understand that better than ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ which has spent decades pulling from every corner of pop culture to fill its ballroom. Coming off a record-breaking Season 34 that drew a historic number of viewers, expectations were already high for whoever ABC would tap next to chase the Mirrorball trophy.
Four names had already trickled out ahead of time, with reality personalities Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson, and Guillermo Rodriguez confirmed as early competitors. That left plenty of speculation swirling about who else might round out the roster, especially after rumors began circulating about a heavily hyped television actress joining the mix.
Those rumors panned out. The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 cast is officially set, with Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles, Harry Shum Jr., Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Cameron, Tatyana Ali, and more hitting the ballroom this season, joining the previously announced competitors to fill out a full sixteen-couple lineup revealed Wednesday morning on ‘Good Morning America.’
The newly announced names bring a genuinely eclectic mix of backgrounds to the competition. Julia Stiles, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress known for ‘Save the Last Dance,’ pairs with pro dancer Ezra Sosa, while ‘The Rookie’ star Jenna Dewan partners with Val Chmerkovskiy and ‘Glee’ alum Harry Shum Jr. teams up with Jenna Johnson.
Food Network favorite Giada De Laurentiis rounds out her culinary career with a shot at the Mirrorball alongside partner Alan Bersten, while ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ alum Tatyana Ali and ‘Bachelorette’ star Tyler Cameron, who is notably paired with returning pro Sharna Burgess after her multi-year hiatus, add further star power to the lineup. Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech and Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn bring genuine athletic pedigree into the mix, partnered with Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov respectively.
Rounding out the newcomers are Hanson band member Taylor Hanson, paired with Britt Stewart, and reality personalities Conner Leavitt and Sarah Jane Nader, whose pairing with pro Hailey Bills marks the show’s third-ever same-sex celebrity-pro duo. Leavitt, notably, is married to Season 34 competitor Whitney Leavitt, giving the new season a bit of returning-family flavor.
This season also brings changes to the professional dancer roster. Adele Zaikman, winner of the summer spinoff ‘Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro,’ joins the main cast as Conner Leavitt’s partner, while Hailey Bills has been promoted from the show’s troupe to full pro status for her pairing with Nader.
Meanwhile, longtime fan favorites Witney Carson, Sharna Burgess, and Mark Ballas are all making notable returns to the ballroom this cycle, with Carson competing while pregnant according to reporting on the new season’s rollout. That blend of returning veterans and fresh pro talent gives Season 35 a noticeably different dynamic than recent cycles.
With ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 set to premiere with a two-night event on September 15 and 16 on ABC and Disney+, this genuinely diverse cast, spanning film, food, music, sports, and reality television, sets up what could be one of the more unpredictable seasons in the show’s recent history.
Which Dancing With the Stars Season 35 contestant are you most excited to see hit the dance floor?
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