Dancing With the Stars returns for season 35 on Sept. 15 on ABC, with actor Julia Stiles, actor and dancer Jenna Dewan, Harry Shum Jr., Hanson band member Taylor Hanson, Savannah Bananas second baseman Jackson Olson and other celebrities competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Ahead of the premiere, two-time champion Julianne Hough teased to E!'s Justin Sylvester during Live From E!: 2026 Emmys on Sept. 14 that after watching a few rehearsals, "I will say we have the frontrunners." She named Shum, Dewan and Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn among the standouts, adding, "I will say Taylor Hanson's got some moves and a great head of hair. And Tatyana Ali, she's amazing."
The competition will not stay gentle for long. One female celebrity pairing and one male celebrity pairing will be eliminated during each of the first two episodes.
Pro dancer Britt Stewart, partnered with Hanson, said his musical background gives him an edge. "Taylor's said it many times: Music and dance, they're so connected," she said. "So it's definitely a strength that I'm using this season." Hanson agreed: "It's the strength that I have to bring to the table."
But Mark Ballas, paired with Traitors star Maura Higgins, cautioned that experience is no guarantee. Speaking on the Sept. 10 episode of Hulu's Get Real podcast, Ballas noted that previous winners Joey Graziadei and Robert Irwin did not start with an obvious advantage, and said a lack of measurable experience "doesn't mean they can't take this on and improve every single week."
What the Celebrities Get Paid
Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that Dancing With the Stars contestants earn $125,000 for the rehearsal period and first two weeks, with pay increasing each week they remain in the competition, up to a reported maximum of $295,000.
Bobby Bones said he made more than that when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018. "That show pays OK," he said on a September 2025 episode of Jason Tartick's podcast Trading Secrets. "Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it's like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last." Bones, who also received a base salary of around $110,000, said he ended up making close to $400,000 from the show. ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
What the Pros Get Paid
Little has been shared publicly about pro dancer pay, though as with contestants, longer runs appear to mean more money. Even pros eliminated in the first round are not left empty-handed. "You're guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks," Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester's podcast The Morning After. "I think there's different contracts though. I can't speak for everybody."
Johnson, who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and season 33 with The Bachelor's Joey Graziadei, said pros do not receive a bigger paycheck for winning. There is still an incentive to reach the finale, she explained. "If you make it all the way to the end, you're getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale," she said. "If you win, it's not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You're just getting a cute trophy together."
Troupe members appear to earn considerably less than pros. On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled that her salary was cut "more than in half" when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
How the Pairings Are Made
Pros have almost no say in who they are matched with. "You get no say," Arnold said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers' Hot Smart Rich podcast. "It's very much just, 'Here's your partner. Make it work.'"
Johnson said the matches are also kept secret from the pros themselves until the cast meets on camera. "They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live," she said on The Morning After. "They want that genuine reaction... They really don't even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner."
Former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015 that matches come down to "height, build and personality and compatibility." He added, "We don't pair people who aren't going to get on. It's too intense... we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn't get on so well."
Rehearsals and Song Choices
The training schedule is intense. Rylee Arnold, partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on season 33, said on a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis that rehearsals run four hours a day, either 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Afterward she may meet with producers or the creative team, work on choreography or study dance videos. "We have our show day on Tuesday and then it's Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals," she said. "And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday's show day again."
As for the music, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart said in a September 2025 Instagram video that pros "mostly" choose the songs, though it is "a collaboration with producers."
Costumes Built in Days
The costume department works on an especially tight turnaround. "We meet with the set and lighting designers, dancers and talent and create a story," costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider in 2017. "Then we sketch out ideas. We have five days, max, to make all the outfits. That's half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones." Around 20 people work in her department alongside a separate tailor shop.
Costume designer Steven Norman Lee said pairs typically try on their outfits for the first time just hours before showtime. While the department "might use a pair of pants again for the boys," everything else is generally custom-made each week. Gschwendtner said pieces are sometimes reused for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition itself. "We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting," she said.
