AceShowbiz - Dancing with the Stars is kicking off its 35th season with a special two-night premiere event titled Premiere: Night One and Premiere: Night Two. The season will be co-hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, bringing back familiar faces to guide viewers through the largest cast in the show’s history.

The premiere event will split the competition by gender, with male celebrities performing on the first night and female celebrities on the second. Each contestant will dance to a number one hit from the year they were born. At the end of each night, one couple will be eliminated based on a combination of judges’ scores and live viewer votes. Voting will be exclusive to the couples performing on each respective night, with U.S. viewers able to vote online or via SMS and Canadian fans voting online only. After the two-night kickoff, new episodes will air weekly on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming available on Hulu.

Dancing with the Stars has been a staple of reality competition television since 2005, distributed by ABC and Disney+ and produced by BBC Worldwide. The show has featured a rotating panel of judges including Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough, all of whom return for this season. Alfonso Ribeiro, who won Season 19, joins Julianne Hough, a former professional dancer and judge on the show, as co-hosts. Season 35 boasts 16 new celebrity contestants from diverse backgrounds such as television, film, sports, social media, food, and music. Notable competitors include actresses Jenna Dewan and Julia Stiles, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, and Olympian Amber Glenn. The season also features groundbreaking moments like a same-sex dance partnership and the first time Olympic and Paralympic champions compete together.

This two-night premiere format, combined with a record-size cast, fresh hosting duo, and innovative voting procedures, marks a significant evolution for Dancing with the Stars. It aims to heighten excitement and engagement from fans, setting the tone for an intense and memorable season ahead.