DANCE TELEVISION | FRANCHISE OVERVIEW | UPDATED FOR SEASON 35

Dancing with the Stars: From Ballroom Beginnings to Season 35 and Beyond

Twenty-plus years, thirty-four completed seasons, one franchise that made ballroom dance appointment viewing across America.

By Dance Mogul Magazine | Originally published June 2012 | Comprehensively updated for Season 35 — September 2026

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Dancing with the Stars — the American ballroom competition series, on ABC since June 2005. | Archival image, ABC / DMM archive

Two Decades of Ballroom on Prime Time

Dancing with the Stars is one of the longest-running dance competition series in American television history. Since premiering on ABC on June 1, 2005, the American adaptation of the British series Strictly Come Dancing has brought ballroom and Latin dance into millions of living rooms and, over thirty-four completed seasons, made careers for a generation of professional dancers who might otherwise have worked in a smaller spotlight.

The format is simple and, twenty years on, still works. Celebrities from every walk of life — actors, singers, Olympic athletes, astronauts, teen idols, chefs, YouTube personalities, social-media stars — are paired with a professional ballroom dancer who guides them through weeks of choreography, technique, and live performance. Judges score each couple on a thirty-point scale; viewers vote by phone and app. Combined totals send the lowest couple home each week until only the champion pair remains and lifts the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Heading into its landmark Season 35 in fall 2026, Dancing with the Stars continues to break its own records: the Season 34 finale drew 72 million viewer votes, double the previous year’s total, and the show now streams live simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ for the fourth consecutive season.

Hosts Through the Years

Tom Bergeron hosted the ballroom from Season 1 through Season 28 (2005–2019), a fifteen-year run that made him one of the most familiar voices in live American television. He returned for a guest-judge appearance during the Season 34 finale in November 2025 — his first time back in the ballroom since 2019 — as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations.

Co-hosts: The role has passed through Lisa Canning (Season 1), Samantha Harris (Seasons 2–9), Brooke Burke Charvet (Seasons 10–17, who had previously won Season 7 as a competitor), and Erin Andrews (Seasons 18–28).

Tyra Banks stepped in as sole host when the show moved to Disney+ for Season 29 in fall 2020, then continued through Season 31 in 2022. Season 31 also introduced Alfonso Ribeiro as co-host — the same Alfonso Ribeiro who had won Season 19 in 2014.

Julianne Hough joined Ribeiro as co-host in Season 32 (2023) and has remained the show’s female voice ever since. She is a two-time Mirrorball-winning pro dancer — Season 4 with Apolo Anton Ohno and Season 5 with Hélio Castroneves — and served as a judge on Seasons 17 through 19. Season 35 marks her fourth consecutive season co-hosting.

The Judges’ Table

The original three-judge panel — Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli — sat behind the desk together from Season 1 in 2005 through Season 31 in 2022. Len Goodman retired at the end of that season and passed away in April 2023. The show renamed its trophy the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy in his honor. Derek Hough — who won six Mirrorballs as a pro dancer between Seasons 4 and 23 — replaced him. As of Season 35, the panel is Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli.

Season 34: The Record-Breaking 20th Anniversary (Fall 2025)

Season 34 premiered September 16, 2025 and concluded December 2, 2025 — the first ABC unscripted show officially renewed for the 2025–26 network schedule. It was the third season to air live simultaneously on ABC and Disney+, and by the numbers it was the biggest of the show’s modern era. Fourteen couples competed over twelve weeks. Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin, paired with two-time champion pro Witney Carson, took the trophy on November 25 with a finale score of 89 out of 90 — won on viewer votes over runner-up Alix Earle and pro Val Chmerkovskiy, who scored a perfect 90 themselves.

Watch: The Season 34 Winning Freestyle

Robert Irwin & Witney Carson — Season 34 finale freestyle to “Black & Gold” and “The Nights” | ABC / Dancing with the Stars

Season 35: What We Know So Far (Fall 2026)

Season 35 premieres as a two-night event on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET. It is the fourth consecutive season to air live on both ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming on Hulu. Sixteen celebrities are in the cast — the largest opening ballroom in the show’s recent history — with two new professional dancers, Adele Zaikman and Hailey Bills, joining the pro roster.

Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills form only the second same-sex couple in the American series’ history. Tatyana Ali brings a full-circle Fresh Prince reunion angle for host Alfonso Ribeiro. Witney Carson returns to the ballroom as a pro one season after winning her second trophy.

New Spinoff: Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro

In July 2026, ABC launched the franchise’s first spinoff in more than a decade: Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro. The format inverts the flagship: twelve professional dancers compete against each other for a place on the main show’s pro roster and a set of career-defining prizes. Host? Robert Irwin, fresh off his Season 34 win and now stepping into a hosting seat previously reserved for Bergeron and Banks.

Complete Champions by Season

Two pros have won the Mirrorball Trophy in consecutive seasons: Cheryl Burke (Seasons 2 & 3), Julianne Hough (Seasons 4 & 5), and Derek Hough — whose six wins across Seasons 4–23 make him the winningest pro in the show’s history.

The Dance Style Impact

What separates Dancing with the Stars from other reality-competition formats is that it’s an actual technical dance show. Each week’s routines require competitors to learn and perform predetermined disciplines from the ballroom and Latin canons: the waltz, foxtrot, tango, quickstep, Viennese waltz, and Argentine tango on the ballroom side; the cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive on the Latin side. Contemporary, jazz, and freestyle rounds appear in later weeks as choreography opens up. Explore each of these disciplines in depth at the Dance Mogul Magazine Dance Styles Hub.

Why This Show Matters to Dance Mogul Magazine

Dance Mogul Magazine has covered Dancing with the Stars since our earliest issues in 2011–2012. That coverage was never about celebrity headlines — it was about a single editorial idea: dance careers deserve prime-time platforms, and this show has quietly built more of those platforms than any other American television format. Derek Hough, Julianne Hough, Witney Carson, Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Val Chmerkovskiy, Peta Murgatroyd, Daniella Karagach, Jenna Johnson, and dozens of others built dance-industry careers visible to a generation of young dancers who might otherwise never have seen ballroom or Latin as viable professional paths.

See DMM’s Dancing with the Stars Interview Hub for our archive of long-form Q&As with champions, pros, and creative directors from across the show’s twenty-year run — including our full-circle feature on Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson’s Season 19 win, and our coverage of the newly launched The Next Pro spinoff.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Dancing with the Stars premiere?

Dancing with the Stars premiered on ABC on June 1, 2005. It is the American adaptation of the British series Strictly Come Dancing.

Who won Dancing with the Stars Season 34?

Robert Irwin and professional partner Witney Carson won Season 34 on November 25, 2025 — the show’s record-breaking 20th anniversary season. It was Carson’s second mirror ball trophy; her first was Season 19 in 2014 with Alfonso Ribeiro.

When does Dancing with the Stars Season 35 premiere?

Season 35 premieres with a two-night event on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming on Hulu.

Who hosts Dancing with the Stars now?

Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough co-host. Ribeiro has been at the helm since Season 31 in 2022; Hough joined in Season 32 in 2023. Both return for Season 35.

Who is the winningest professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars?

Derek Hough holds the record with six Mirrorball wins, spread across Seasons 4, 11, 16, 17, 21, and 23. He is currently a judge on the show.

Is there a spinoff?

Yes. Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro premiered July 13, 2026, hosted by Season 34 champion Robert Irwin. Twelve professional dancers compete for a place on the flagship pro roster.

Continue Your Journey

The Story Continues

Two decades in, Dancing with the Stars has become more than a television format. It’s a career pipeline, a cultural touchstone, and one of the few American mainstream stages that still asks trained dancers to perform live, uncut, and on their own technique. Dance Mogul Magazine will continue to cover it that way — season by season, dancer by dancer — as it enters its next chapter.

Follow DMM on Instagram at @dance_mogul_magazine for weekly Season 35 recap coverage from the dancer’s side of the floor.

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