“ Dancing with the Stars” season 34 premieres this Tuesday Sept. 16 at 8PM, live on ABC and streaming live on Disney+, and next day on Hulu.
For the third season Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro will share the microphone to host this two-hour weekly program featuring 14 of some of the most star studded celebrities to dance the ballroom. This season features various celebrity personnel: reality stars, actors and actresses, TikTok stars, zoo keepers, and athletes. For twenty years this show has brought in countless big names from all walks of stardom to show their stuff on the floor, and this season hopes to be no different.
The judges this season will be the same as last year’s consisting of Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli will be back and have been judges since the show debuted, Derek Hough in his fifth season as a judge.
There’s hype for the biggest names this season. Two stars come from Hulu’s very own “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt will compete against one another for the ultimate MomTok faceoff. Affleck will be partnered with rookie pro Jan Ravnik, who was on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” as a backup dancer. Leavitt will be dancing with veteran Mark Ballas, who has three mirror ball trophies under his belt, including one with another TikTok star, Charli D’Amelio.
Jersey native and social media influencer, Alix Earle will compete this season, dancing with Val Chmerkovskiy. She hinted she was going to be on the show in an interview she did with ELLE last year, saying that there was lots of the show on her “For You” page. She also made an appearance at last season’s 500th episode by sitting in the audience.
After rumors that stated he wasn’t practicing with his partner, 80s child actor Corey Feldman, who famously portrayed Mouth in “The Goonies,” is paired with Jenna Johnson. Johnson is recently coming off her win with fan favorite, Joey Graziadei from “The Bachelor.” Paired up with Brandon Armstrong is Lauren Jauregui, the third member of Fifth Harmony to compete on the show. Normani competed in season 24, and Ally Brooke competed in season 28, proving just how much this girl group is loved. It’s sure to get the attention of Harmonizers!
Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying will be paired with Rylee Arnold, Lindsay Arnold’s youngest sister. It would seem dancing runs in the family. If you’re not familiar with the Irwin family, you will be after watching this season. Australian zoo wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin will compete with Witney Carson, the winner of season 19 with one of the show’s hosts, Ribeiro. Irwin’s sister, Bindi competed in season 21 and took home the trophy with Derek Hough. Will her brother be next?
Jordan Chiles, a world renown gymnast who made headlines in the 2024 Summer Olympics after being stripped of her bronze medal, will dance with Ezra Sosa. It would seem a win for her is definitely in order. Former NBA star Baron Davis, known for playing most of his career with the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco after being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, will be partnered with Britt Stewart. While athletes have their fair share of struggle when it comes to the dance floor, you can count on Davis to have some fancy footwork.
The other contestants on the show, based on the cast list, also vary between different walks of life, especially in tv and movies. So get ready to see some silver screen names hitting the dance floor.
Being known for her role as Meredith Blake in the 1998 film “The Parent Trap,” Elaine Hendrix joins the dance floor with season 28 winner Alan Bersten as her partner. Let’s hope she doesn’t become the target of lizard pranks during practices. Conan O’Brien’s former late night sidekick, Andy Richter, joins the floor with veteran dancer Emma Slater as his partner. There is much controversy over this pairing as Slater is seemingly always paired with older celebrities. We’ll see if they can manage the competition once it gets underway.
Alec Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria, will dance with Gleb Savchenko, another controversial pairing if you know what happened between Savchenko and last season’s partner. Nearing the end of the pairing announcements is “Boy Meets World,” actress and director Danielle Fischel, known for his iconic character Topanga. Fischel will dance with Pasha Pashkov. Lastly, Zac Efron’s brother, Dylan, will dance with Pashkov’s wife, and winner of season 30, Daniella Karagach. Who’s ready to see the lesser known Efron take the stage?
Be sure to tune in and see all of these stars learn intense combinations to your favorite songs. If you can’t watch live, it’ll be streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. I have no idea how the couples will finish, as that’s what can make this show so fun!
