“Dancing with the Stars” kicked off Tuesday, Sept. 15 with its 35th season! The show had a two-night premiere with an elimination each night. With the cast lineup being announced last Wednesday, Sept. 9 and many noteworthy names being mentioned, this season is bound to be electric. The cast features 16 celebrities, including athletes, reality stars, actors, musicians, influencers, as well as the addition of two new pros (Hailey Bills, a previous troupe member, and Adele Zaikman, the first winner of the next pro competition show), and a historic same-sex pairing between Hailey Bills and reality star Sarah Jane Nader.
Hailey Bills was promoted from being a troupe dancer to a full professional on the show and her pairing with Sarah Jane Nader was the first all-female star/pro pairing in the show’s U.S. version. The two-night premiere was broken up by gender, with Tuesday featuring the male stars and Wednesday. Sept. 16, featuring the female stars.
On Tuesday night, the first elimination of the season was given to Conner Leavitt after his salsa received 12 out of 30 points. Leavitt is the husband to Whitney Leavitt, a reality star on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and the 4th place finisher on last year’s season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
On Wednesday night, Sarah Jane Nader became the second couple eliminated after earning 14 out of 30 points for their jive.
The judges’ leaderboard based on the past two nights of competition are:
*points are out of 30
1 (Tie) - Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson (Cha Cha): 21.
1 (Tie) - Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas (Foxtrot): 21
3 - Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach (Tango): 20
4 - Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy (Tango): 19
5 (Tie) - Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov (Cha-Cha): 18
5 (Tie) - Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa (Quickstep): 18
7 - Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess (Tango): 17.
8 (Tie) - Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold (Cha Cha): 16.
8( Tie) - Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart (Quickstep): 16.
8 (Tie) - Giada De Laurentiis and Alan Bersten (Tango): 16
11 (Tie) - Jackson Olson and Emma Slater (Cha Cha): 15.
11 (Tie) - Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong (Foxtrot): 15
13 - Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills (Jive): 14
14 (Tie) - Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman (Salsa): 12.
14 (Tie) - Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik (Jive): 12
16 - Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson (Cha Cha): 10.
As a now second season viewer of the show, I am extremely excited to watch! I became a fan of the show after Alix Earle's amazing season with her taking 2nd place last year. I was pleasantly surprised to see Maura Higgins, the reality TV star from U.K.'s “Love Island” and “Traitors” tying for the top score, after her earlier declarations during the promotional announcements that she could not dance and had been working really hard. Also, kudos to the two athletes as they are learning and training to be dancers and maintaining their respective training in their sports. However, my current favorite pairing would have to be Guillermo and Whitney--and no Guillermo slander will be tolerated in this house, especially not after Andy-gate last season. (If you need a refresher, Andy Richter against the odds and fans dismay made it to the Top 10 and 7th place). Guillermo is Jimmy Kimmel's reoccurring sidekick on his late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and rose to fame while working as a parking lot security guard at the Hollywood Boulevard Masonic Temple studio, and he is an icon of my childhood!
Next week's show will start the normal one-hour airing on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC and Disney+ with the theme to be Viral Hits. I hope you tune in!
