‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 Cast: All About the Stars Hitting the Ballroom This Fall

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With the full list of celebs and pros who will appear on the next season being revealed on 'GMA' on Sept. 2, THR is breaking down the careers of the people partaking in the upcoming season.

September 2, 2026 9:22am

Published on September 2, 2026

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Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars is closer than ever, and the slate of celebrities who are ready to hit the ballroom has officially shaped up.

The full list of stars and professional dancers who will appear in the next season of the competitive ballroom dancing show was revealed on Good Morning America on Sept. 2. However, that didn’t limit ABC from slowly announcing a few of the celebrities that will partake in DWTS‘ landmark 35th season, with Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson and Guillermo Rodriguez announced as early additions prior this year.

To add to the excitement, the network debuted its companion show, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, this summer, where a group of dancers will competed for a spot on the pro cast. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Conrad Green confirmed that the winner of The Next Pro [was] “secretly in the bank,” and shed light on what working on the new spinoff taught them about the mainstay show. That winner ended up being Adele Zaikman.

“[The Next Pro shows] just how many different skills you need to be a pro on Dancing With the Stars. Just being a good ballroom or Latin dancer is the basics,” he said. “But you have to be able to do group dancing, choreograph, manage difficult people, manage time pressure, format a dance and choreograph for a one-minute routine that’s got moments that might get picked up on social media that might make your couple pop.” 

From the woman who found herself in the middle of Bravo’s latest scandal to a sports star with a social media twist, here everything you need to know about the confirmed list of celebrities who will appear on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars. (And find out which pros they’re partnered with here).

This story was originally published on May 12, and has been updated as new castings were announced.

• Ciara Miller

  

  Summer House star Ciara Miller was one of the first two celebrities announced as part of season 35 of DWTS. Her casting was announced at Hulu‘s Get Real House 2026, amid quite the busy time for the reality star who has been caught in the middle of Bravo’s latest scandal that stemmed from Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s relationship.

  After a month of rumors and denying that their relationship had turned more than platonic, Batula and Wilson put out a joint statement in late March confirming their connection, sending the Bravosphere into shockwaves, specifically because Miller used to date Wilson, and she was also very close friends with Batula.

  Katz told THR that tapping Miller to compete on DWTS “was a really of the moment” choice, and that she previously knew the reality star because she also cast her on season three of Traitors.

  “I already knew Ciara. She was on Traitors, and she’s wonderful. She’s stunning, she’s gorgeous; she’s all these things,” Katz said. “And then the stuff that happened to her, it was a really of the moment thing that we all felt like it was the right time. We really wanted her on the show, but it was also the right time to announce her.”

  The controversy has been compared to that of Vanderpump Rules‘ Scandoval, which encompassed Tom Sandoval having an affair with Rachel Leviss, his co-star and friend to his longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix. While the situations are different, Madix’s professional career hit a hot streak following the scandal (that hasn’t slowed down), which Miller herself is somewhat mirroring.

  Madix went on to compete on DWTS and was subsequently named the host of Love Island USA following the Bravo scandal; Miller follows in her footsteps by now joining the cast of season 35, and she was also recently named the co-host of Love Island USA‘s Aftersun.

  Before the Summer House star makes her way to the ballroom this fall, she has a jam-packed summer, which will include co-hosting Aftersun and seemingly returning to film season 11 of the Bravo series.

• Maura Higgins

  

  From Love Island to The Traitors, Maura Higgins is adding another mammoth reality television series to her resume this fall.

  Higgins recently finished as second runner-up in the latter show, which turned into a viral moment of its own. She got her start in the unscripted world in 2019 when she appeared on the mainstay Love Island series based in the U.K., and subsequently traveled across the pond to host the American Aftersun show in 2024.

  From there, she went on to compete in season four of The Traitors, which Katz cast for alongside DWTS. After her casting was announced, Katz told THR that Higgins was persistent in her pursuit of being considered for Dancing‘s fall season.

  “[Maura] texts me every time she’s coming to L.A. She wants to have lunch. She’s been dying to do the show, and she’s fantastic. She’s great television,” she said. “[Maura] is exactly what our show is, and she’s having a moment right now, so that was a no brainer. And knowing what was going to happen with Traitors and seeing the buzz about her, she was fantastic.”

  And as Katz noted, just after Traitors ended, Higgins told THR about her Dancing aspirations.

  “It’s something that’d be a challenge for me. I’ve never danced. I’d done a bit of Irish dancing when I was younger,” she said. “It’d be a huge challenge, but I know I’d throw myself into it and all the looks and glitter.”

• Jackson Olson

  

  Savannah Bananas star Jackson Olson is trading baseballs for the ballroom! A member of the Georgia-based exhibition barnstorming team, Olson is a second baseman and content creator, with over 2 million followers on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram.

  His casting extends a recent trend in spotlighting social media stars on the show that was successful on DWTS season 34 with a sports mix, which has proven well on the show in previous years. Olson’s casting was revealed during the Disney Upfronts presentation on May 12.

• Guillermo Rodriguez

  

  Jimmy Kimmel’s side-kick Guillermo Rodriguez is trading late night TV for primetime this fall. The comedian will be featured on Dancing With the Stars season 35, after appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for over 23 years.

  Outside of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where the announcement of his casting was made during the June 17 episode, Rodriguez recently launched his own brand of fresh salsa, Guillermo’s Salsa.

• Julia Stiles

  

  Emmy and Golden Globe winner Julia Stiles has joined the cast of DWTS. She memorably starred in 10 Things I Hate About You alongside Heath Ledger, with her additional credits including Dexter, the Bourne franchise, Mona Lisa Smile, Hustlers, Riviera, Silver Linings Playbook, State & Main, The Omen and Save the Last Dance.

  Stiles’ directorial debut Wish You Were Here was released by Lionsgate in 2025. 

• Harry Shum Jr.

  

  Actor Harry Shum Jr. will be on season 35 of DWTS. He has a plethora of credits, and is currently starring as Dr. Benson Blue Kwan on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy; he also recently appeared in Netflix’s Voicemails for Isabelle. He’s also appeared in Crazy Rich Asians, the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, Netflix’s Love Hard and All My Life.

  Before acting, he was renowned as a dancer and choreographer. Shum Jr. starred in Step Up 2: The Streets, as Mike Chang on Fox’s Glee and later starred and co-choreographed Jon M. Chu’s The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. He co-authored the children’s book Martee Dares to Dance with his wife, Shelby Rabara, in 2024.

• Sarah Jane Nader

  

  Sarah Jane Nader is a star of the Hulu reality series Love Thy Nader, which chronicles the life of Brooks Nader and her three siblings living in New York City. She is also a model, having led campaigns for the likes Alice + Olivia and MAC Cosmetics.

• Connor Wood

  

  Comedian and social media star Connor Wood is making his way into the ballroom. Wood is known online as Fibula, with over 1.5 million fans across social media platforms. He is the co-host of Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast, and was named as part of The Hollywood Reporter‘s 2025 Creator A-List.

• Conner Leavitt

  

  Conner Leavitt is the husband to Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star (and DWTS season 34 competitor) Whitney Leavitt. He also recently appeared in the off-Broadway show 11 to Midnight launched Leavitt Media House, an independent production company alongside his wife, Whitney.

• Taylor Hanson

  

  Taylor Hanson is a musician who hails from the band Hanson. Their first single “MMMBop” was an instant hit, rising to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He is also a member of the supergroup Tinted Windows with Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne).

• Amber Glenn

  

  Amber Glenn is an Olympic gold medalist figure skater. At the 2026 Olympics, she helped Team USA win Olympic gold in the figure skating team event, and became the first U.S. woman to land three triple axels at a single Olympic Games. She is the first openly LGBTQ+ U.S. women’s figure skating champion, and a three-time U.S. national champion.

• Ezra Frech

  

  Ezra Frech is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist. He competes in the T63 100 meter, long jump and high jump, and at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, he won gold medals in the 100 meter and high jump, and placed fifth in the long jump. Frech is also a two-time Espy nominee, and the co-founder of Angel City Sports.

• Jenna Dewan

  

  Actress and dancer Jenna Dewan is taking on DWTS season 35. She currently stars alongside Nathan Fillion in ABC’s The Rookie, and has also appeared in The CW’s Superman & Lois. Viewers likely also recognize her from her starring turn in Step Up, and she is also one of Janet Jackson’s former backup dancers.

  She was previously married to Channing Tatum.

• Giada De Laurentiis

  

  Giada De Laurentiis is trading the kitchen for the ballroom! The Emmy Award-winning chef, television personality, New York Times bestselling author and restaurateur is a Food Network veteran. She is the author of 11 New York Times bestselling cookbooks; founder of the lifestyle brand Giadzy; and a Today show contributor. She has four Daytime Emmys under her belt.

• Tyler Cameron

  

  Tyler Cameron is a television personality, who got his start on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette. A prominent member of Bachelor Nation, he has continued in the realm of TV under the home renovation niche. He has since starred in the Emmy-nominated Prime Video series Going Home with Tyler Cameron; judged HGTV’s Bachelor Mansion Takeover; and appeared in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

  Cameron has also ventured deeper into the competitive reality TV space, previously winning won Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and The Real Dirty Dancing. He is also the co-foundef the Andrea C. Cameron Foundation, providing scholarships in Palm Beach County in his honor of his late mother.

• Tatyana Ali

  

  Actress, singer, writer, entrepreneur and activist Tatyana Ali will be on season 35 of Dancing. She has appeared in a number of projects, including Sesame Street, The Young and the Restless and Abbott Elementary, although she may be best known for appearing on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as Ashley Banks. Notably, as she makes her way into the ballroom, she’ll reunite with her onscreen brother, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro.

  Ali is a five-time NAACP Image Award winner; founded Baby Yams, a quilted goods company supporting Black and Indigenous midwives and doulas; and has and won a Grammy for her contribution to The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland soundtrack.

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