Glitz, glamour, and shiny mirrorballs! Dancing with the Stars has returned for its 34th season, and the cast is star-studded with some new and familiar faces people are eager to see hit the dance floor. The official cast announcement was made on Sept. 3 during a showing of Good Morning America, but there was some speculation and rumors beforehand about who would get their dancing shoes ready this fall.
Some fan favorites among the returning Pros are Mark Ballas (who has won the Mirrorball trophy three times since joining in season 6), Val Chmerkovskiy (he won the mirrorball three times), and Alan Bersten (who won the Mirrorball trophy in season 28). Also returning is Jenna Johnson who most recently won last season with Joey Graziadei, Emma Slater (her 17th season with the show), Witney Carson (who has won with one of the show’s hosts Alfonso Ribeiro), and my personal favorite Rylee Arnold, who has been with DWTS since Season 32. There is one new Pro joining the cast this fall who was previously on tour, dancing alongside Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour: Jan Ravnik. He made his debut in the ballroom on Tuesday, Sept. 16 when the show returned.
The celebrities that agreed to take on the challenge of ballroom dancing for 11 weeks range from influencers, actors, singers, athletes, and even a wildlife conservationist. The news that Robert Irwin would be joining the competition this year brought in a lot of attention and curiosity to see how he would do. His sister, Bindi Irwin, danced on the show in 2015 and won with her partner Derek Hough. The expectation that Robert will do just as well is high amongst fans online.
Some of the faces joining Irwin are Jordan Chiles (a 2024 Olympic gymnast), Alix Earle (an online influencer), Dylan Efron (digital creator and brother of Zac Efron), Danielle Fishel (Topanga from Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World), Elaine Hendrix (The Parent Trap), and Scott Hoying (Pentatonix). With contestants like these, competition will be fierce this season and that was already easy to pick up on in the first episode.
Usually the first few dances of the show are for learning and improvement to get to the later half of the season. It’s fun to see how the Pros will—or in some cases won’t—bring out the best in their stars. The air is lighter as the couples are still getting to know each other and finding out what each person is capable of. However this season started off with a bang…with more bangs following as performances went on. The theme of the night was “personal anthem” where the stars danced to a song that was significant to them. Chiles kicked things off with her partner, Ezra Sosa. As she’s an Olympic champion, their choreography in the salsa included lots of flips and dips to get the night going. Since it’s only the start with a lot to learn, Chiles and Sosa got two fives from the judges resulting in their score of ten out of twenty for the night.
Another dance that caught the judges’ and the audience’s attention was from Whitney Leavitt with Mark Ballas. They danced the tango that elicited a lot of compliments as a first dance with judges calling it “elegant” and “very high quality.” Their score was the highest for a while with 15 out of 20 points. Earle then came close to topping their score when she and Chmerkovskiy got a 13 out of 20 dancing the cha-cha to “Circus” by Britney Spears. Earle has some experience when it comes to dancing and was praised for her first efforts on the show.
Someone else who surprised the judges was Fishel and Pasha Pashkov’s tango routine to the song “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” Hough called her dance a “breath of fresh air” and admired the way she moved across the floor. They received a 12 out of 20 for the night. Fifth Harmony fans were also excited to see Lauren Jauregui dance with her partner, Brandon Armstrong. Jauregui brought her experience dancing with Fifth Harmony to the ballroom and conquered the tango with precision, fluidity, and grace. The couple scored a 13 out of 20.
Last but not least, Irwin came out to dance with Carson and you could start to understand why they saved them for last. The two performed a jive routine to “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf and blew everyone away. Irwin and Carson were commended for their timing and ability to be in sync with one another. Hough even went as far as saying it was the best first dance he’s ever seen on the show. If that’s not an insane compliment, I don’t know what is. Their scores tied with Leavitt and Ballas at 15 out of 20 points. Considering this is only their first dance, I am looking forward to how much better they’ll get in the weeks to come.
This is a very talented group this season who started off strong. I’m excited to see how it plays out and whose votes carry them to the finale along with the judges scores. If I had to make a prediction on who would end up in the top three—it would be tough—but I would say Irwin with Carson, Earle and Chmerkovskiy, and finally Chiles and Sosa. I would like to see Irwin win it all just like his sister based on his strong first performance. Only time will tell in the ballroom on Dancing with the Stars.