Dancing With the Stars will now put him in a rather different position: instead of appearing alongside the host, Rodriguez will be the contestant being judged.
Carson’s involvement gives the pairing an obvious early storyline. She arrives as the season 34 champion, while Rodriguez is entering a competition built around celebrities learning routines with professional dancers.
Three other season 35 celebrities are already confirmed
Rodriguez is not the only name already attached to the upcoming season.
Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller and Jackson Olson have previously been announced as celebrity contestants, although their professional partners were not included in the information released alongside Rodriguez and Carson’s pairing.
The staggered announcements mean viewers currently know only part of the season 35 lineup. Rodriguez and Carson are the first pair to be revealed together, while the identities of most of the celebrities — and the remaining partnerships — are still being held back.
The full cast reveal is coming on September 2
The next major announcement is scheduled for September 2, when the remaining celebrity contestants are due to be revealed on Good Morning America.
That reveal will place Rodriguez, Higgins, Miller and Olson within the complete season 35 field and should provide a clearer picture of the personalities the show is assembling for its next run.
Until then, Rodriguez and Carson have the distinction of being the season’s first confirmed partnership — and Carson enters it with the unusual task of trying to follow a championship by starting again with an entirely new celebrity partner.
Season 35 is beginning with a familiar kind of wildcard
Rodriguez’s casting gives Dancing With the Stars another contestant whose appeal extends beyond conventional acting, music or sport. His public persona has been built through comedy and late-night television, making the ballroom a conspicuously different stage.
For Carson, the equation is simpler but hardly easier: last season’s trophy does not carry points into the next one.
The rest of the cast will not be known until September 2. For now, season 35 has its first partnership — a late-night sidekick paired with the dancer everyone else will be trying to take the title from.
