Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars officially premiered with a two-night split spanning Tuesday, September 15, 2026, and Wednesday, September 16, 2026. The premiere structure divided the contestants by gender, featuring male celebrities on the first night and female celebrities on the second night. For their opening routines, each couple performed to a No. 1 song from the specific year they were born.
During the Tuesday episode, technical difficulties struck when website downtime forced producers to restrict voting exclusively to text messages. The opening phase of the competition also highlights new professional dancers joining the cast, including Adele Zaikman and Hailey Bills, alongside returning professional Sharna Burgess.
Night One Scores and First Elimination
The male celebrities' opening performances established an immediate leaderboard hierarchy on Tuesday night. Harry Shum Jr. and his professional partner Jenna Johnson secured the highest score of the evening with a 21/30. They were closely followed by Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, who earned a 20/30, and Tyler Cameron paired with Sharna Burgess, who finished with a 17/30.
At the bottom of the Tuesday leaderboard, Conner Leavitt and his professional partner Adele Zaikman finished with a score of 12/30, while Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson recorded a 10/30. As the night concluded, Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman became the first couple eliminated from the competition.
Adding deeper context to the professional lineup, Adele Zaikman won the inaugural season of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, earning her spot among the new roster that also features Hailey Bills and returning professional Sharna Burgess. The opening week format was designed to encompass a double elimination, impacting both male and female couples across the two-night television event.
To accommodate audiences across different time zones during the live broadcasts, strict logistical parameters were put into place. Specifically, the voting window for live voting is from 5 p.m. PT to 6:45 p.m. PT for West Coast viewers, directly influencing how supporters could cast their ballots before the initial results were finalized.
Streaming Availability and Platform Logistics
Viewers seeking to catch up on the episodes or follow the competition outside of live broadcast windows can access the program through digital distribution. The show will stream the following day on Hulu, providing an alternative viewing option for audiences following the split premiere format.
Consequences from the opening week's elimination highlight the strict limits imposed by combined judges' scores and viewer totals during the Tuesday episode. With Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman exiting early after earning 12/30, the remaining roster moves forward under the established premiere guidelines.
Following the conclusion of the two-night premiere split across Tuesday and Wednesday, episodes will continue according to the network broadcast schedule and next-day streaming availability on Hulu.