Reality TV
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Fans Are Not Happy About a Major Season 35 Premiere Twist
‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 35 features a two-night premiere and is reportedly throwing in a major twist that fans are not happy about.
The Season 35 cast of Dancing with the Stars is one of the largest the show has ever had, but it won’t stay that way for long. The first week of DWTS features a two-night premiere, and it turns out two pairs will be eliminated.
The elimination news came from Hulu’s Amanda Hirsch during the newest episode of the Get Real podcast. She had Mark Ballas and his Season 35 partner, Maura Higgins, on as guests, and soon, the talk turned to the premiere week.
Hirsch shared, “So, this is the first time since 2018 that one male celebrity and one female celebrity will be sent home after the two-night premiere.”
According to Us Weekly, the 16 Season 35 pairs will be split into two groups for Week 1. All pairs with female celebrities will dance one night, and all pairs with male celebrities will dance the other night. One pair from each night will be eliminated.
As Us Weekly worded it, one pair will be eliminated each night.
So far, ABC has not shared further details regarding how Week 1 will work. The press release, which always reveals the songs and dance styles for each pair, should emerge soon. However, it may not include much regarding the first eliminations.
As was noted during the podcast, Dancing with the Stars hasn’t eliminated two contestants during the first week since 2018.
It turns out, a double Week 1 elimination is even more unusual given that the season referenced, Season 26, was a shortened one where all of the contestants were professional athletes. The season only consisted of four episodes and 10 pairs in total, with two pairs eliminated each of the first three weeks.
In many seasons of Dancing with the Stars, there is no elimination during Week 1. Oftentimes, the viewers’ votes and judges’ scores from both the first and second week are combined to determine which celebrity goes home first. Sometimes, as was the case in Season 34, there is a double elimination in Week 2.
Dancing with the Stars fans had plenty to say about this move on ABC’s part on Reddit, and they are not happy.
“That’s disappointing. I really wish they didn’t eliminate anyone the first week,” one Reddit user commented.
“Next season let’s just go back to a smaller cast so we don’t have to do week 1 eliminations. They are rough unless it’s an obvious dud that shouldn’t have been cast,” another Redditor suggested.
One fan noted that the last time Dancing with the Stars eliminated a pair in the first week, it was Season 32. The season aired in 2023, and Koko Iwasaki and Matt Walsh were eliminated in Week 1.
Someone else added, “I just don’t believe in first week eliminations. Like give the celebs a chance to grow and just do a double elimination next week.”
“I hate 16 partnerships for this reason. 14 is the PERFECT amount. All this promo and studio time just for you to only do ONE live show is upsetting,” wrote an additional fan.
Which two celebrities will be the first to be eliminated in Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars? The first two episodes air on Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16.
