Dance Mogul Magazine · DWTS Season 35 · Breaking News
Conner Leavitt & Adele Zaikman Eliminated After DWTS Online Voting Fails on Night 1
The first Season 35 elimination ended the new pro’s first celebrity partnership after one dance — on a night when online voting did not function.
Published September 16, 2026 · Dance Mogul Magazine
Conner Leavitt and professional dancer Adele Zaikman became the first couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars Season 35 on September 15, after their salsa to Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” received 12 out of 30 from Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
The elimination would already have carried unusual weight because Zaikman entered Season 35 as the winner of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro. Her prize put her directly into the professional lineup. One routine later, her first celebrity partnership was over.
A Voting Failure Complicated the First Result
During the live premiere, the show announced that its online voting system was not functioning properly. Viewers were directed to vote by text, and online votes were not used for the Night 1 result. ABC-owned coverage reported that hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough said the show still received more than double the votes of last season’s premiere, even though only eight couples performed on the first night.
Accuracy Note
The outage is verified. The elimination is verified. There is no public evidence establishing that a functioning online vote would have produced a different result. DMM will not present that unknowable counterfactual as fact.
The Dance: Fun Was Not Enough to Offset the Technical Gap
Leavitt and Zaikman’s salsa earned three 4s. The judges acknowledged the routine’s playful energy while identifying timing and refinement as problems. That placed them near the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard, though Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson scored lower with 10/30.
At the top of the men’s field, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson earned 21/30 for a cha-cha to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove.” Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach followed with 20/30 for their tango.
DMM Dance Analysis: One Routine Changes What the Premiere Measures
Traditional DWTS storytelling depends on development. A professional identifies what a celebrity cannot yet do, redesigns the training around those limitations, and viewers watch the partnership evolve. An opening-night elimination compresses that process into a readiness test.
Leavitt received corrections he will never have the opportunity to apply in competition. That does not make the result illegitimate; it changes what the format rewards. Opening-night execution, immediate audience connection and the ability to survive one combined score/vote calculation matter more when there is no second dance.
What This Means for Adele Zaikman and The Next Pro
Zaikman’s elimination does not undo what The Next Pro accomplished: the competition produced a winner who received a documented professional position on the flagship show. But it makes the next stage of DMM’s pipeline question more important.
What happens to a newly minted professional after an early celebrity elimination? DMM will track whether Zaikman receives troupe appearances, choreography opportunities, tour work, teaching visibility, recurring broadcast appearances or another future celebrity partnership. A dance career is larger than the number of weeks one celebrity survives.
Night 1 Scoreboard
| Celebrity / Pro | Dance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Shum Jr. / Jenna Johnson | Cha-cha | 21/30 |
| Ezra Frech / Daniella Karagach | Tango | 20/30 |
| Tyler Cameron / Sharna Burgess | Tango | 17/30 |
| Connor Wood / Rylee Arnold | Cha-cha | 16/30 |
| Taylor Hanson / Britt Stewart | Quickstep | 16/30 |
| Jackson Olson / Emma Slater | Cha-cha | 15/30 |
| Conner Leavitt / Adele Zaikman | Salsa | 12/30 |
| Guillermo Rodriguez / Witney Carson | Cha-cha | 10/30 |
What Comes Next
Premiere Night 2 airs September 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with the eight female celebrities performing and another couple scheduled to be eliminated. DMM’s Season 35 Newsroom will continue tracking the results, professional-dancer developments and the difference between prior performance experience and ballroom-specific technique.
Sources
- ABC/Disney Press — official Season 35 two-night premiere release
- ABC7 Los Angeles — Night 1 performances, scores, voting failure and elimination
Related DMM: The Next Pro · Does prior dance experience win Season 35? · DWTS master guide