Bachelor Nation star Tyler Cameron and actress Jenna Dewan will compete on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars, multiple outlets confirmed.
E! News reached out to network ABC for comment on the casting reports but did not receive an immediate response.
Cameron, 33, enters the ballroom with limited dance experience. Dewan, 45, brings background as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and a starring role in the film franchise Step Up. She has a 12-year-old daughter, Everly, with former husband Channing Tatum, and shares a 5-year-old son, Callum, and a 2-year-old daughter, Rhiannon, with husband Steve Kazee.
The upcoming season features a competitive lineup of previously announced celebrities. The cast includes Summer House star Ciara Miller, Love Island star Maura Higgins, Jimmy Kimmel Live! sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, and Savannah Bananas baseball player Jackson Olson. ABC plans to reveal the remaining celebrity contestants and their assigned professional dance partners next month.
History Making Professional Dancers
ABC confirmed that reigning Mirrorball Trophy winner Witney Carson will return to the dance floor for season 35. Carson, 32, won season 34 alongside partner Robert Irwin. She announced that she is expecting her third child with husband Carson McAllister, making her the first professional dancer to enter a Dancing With the Stars season while pregnant. Carson called the milestone "scary but also exciting."
Carson will partner with Guillermo Rodriguez as they compete for the trophy. In an interview published August 17 in People, Carson said, "My plan is to, as long as the baby is healthy and as long as I’m doing well, then we will compete again on this season on Dancing with the Stars, which is very exciting because I love being a mom more than anything, and I also love to dance. I love both. And so if I can do both, then that’s what I want to do."
Speaking on Good Morning America in an August 17 interview, Carson noted that Rodriguez will also face a learning curve. "It wasn’t on my bingo card to compete on Dancing with the Stars and be four months pregnant, but I think that it’s a beautiful thing," Carson said. "Hopefully Guillermo will be right there beside me and we can work as a team."
Celebrity and Professional Compensation
Financial details behind the series offer insight into contestant earnings. Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that contestants earn $125,000 for the rehearsal period and their first two weeks on the show. Weekly earnings increase for stars who remain in the competition, with sources at the time reporting a maximum payout of $295,000.
Former winner Bobby Bones reported higher earnings after winning season 27 with professional dancer Sharna Burgess in 2018. Speaking on a September 2025 episode of Jason Tartick's podcast Trading Secrets, the radio personality said, "That show pays OK. 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 added that he received a base salary of around $110,000 and "ended up making close to $400,000 from that show." ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these payment figures.
Professional dancers also operate under specific contract structures. On a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester's podcast The Morning After, professional dancer Jenna Johnson explained, "You're guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks. I think there's different contracts though. I can't speak for everybody." Johnson won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and season 33 with Joey Graziadei of The Bachelor.
Winning the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy does not include a separate cash prize for professional dancers. Johnson noted on The Morning After that "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 added, "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."
Demotions within the cast significantly impact dancer earnings. Speaking on a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled that her salary was cut "more than in half" when show producers moved her from professional dancer to troupe member.
Partner Matching and Secrecy
Professional dancers have minimal input when production pairs them with celebrities. On a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers' Hot Smart Rich podcast, Lindsay Arnold stated, "You get no say. It's very much just, 'Here's your partner. Make it work.'"
Producers maintain strict secrecy regarding pairings until initial meetings take place. Johnson shared details on The Morning After, explaining, "They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live. They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we're keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. 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."
Selection criteria focus on physical characteristics and interpersonal chemistry. Former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015 that matching is "based on height, build and personality and compatibility." Wade added, "We don't pair people who aren't going to get on. It's too intense. It's not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn't do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don't want to see two people who don't like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn't get on so well."
Rehearsal Schedules and Music Selection
Competing on the show demands extensive daily rehearsal time. On a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis, Rylee Arnold, who partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik in season 33, detailed the schedule. "Every day we have four-hour rehearsals," Arnold said. "It’s either 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m."
Dancers spend additional hours meeting producers, developing choreography, and reviewing video footage. Arnold explained, "Literally my whole life is devoted to it, but it's my passion and it's what I love. So, it makes me so happy."
The weekly schedule runs continuously through performance days. "We have our show day on Tuesday and then it's Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals," Arnold noted. "And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday's show day again."
Song selection involves input from both dancers and production staff. In a September 2025 Instagram video, professional dancers Emma Slater and Britt Stewart revealed that pros pick weekly songs "mostly yes," while noting that "it's a collaboration with producers."
Behind the Scenes Costume Production
Creating outfits for each week's performance requires a rapid turnaround. Costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider in 2017 that staff members meet with set designers, lighting crews, dancers, and talent to establish a narrative concept for every couple before sketching designs.
"We have five days, max, to make all the outfits," Gschwendtner said. "That’s half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones. The fitting and trimming we do later. We have about 20 people in our department and then we have a separate tailor shop. It’s a big enterprise."
Costume designer Steven Norman Lee noted that couples typically complete their initial fittings just hours before live broadcasts. Lee stated that while pants may occasionally be reused for male performers, outfits are generally custom-built for each show.
Gschwendtner added that garments are kept exclusive to individual competition routines. "We do reuse things for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition," Gschwendtner said. "We don’t reuse things unless there’s a specific reason to do so. We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting."
