“I was always too scared to say yes until now,” she said.
Her former co-stars are already applying some friendly pressure. Kerry Washington warned that “the competition better watch out,” while Sean Patrick Thomas joked that Stiles got into Juilliard in Save the Last Dance, “so I know you're gonna kill it.” No pressure, then. Just the expectations of an entire generation that remembers the choreography.
Tatyana Ali brings Fresh Prince history with her
Tatyana Ali, best known as Ashley Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, will dance with Jan Ravnik. Her casting also creates a convenient family connection because Ribeiro, who played her television brother Carlton Banks, is now one of the show's hosts and previously won the competition himself.
Ali told Entertainment Weekly that confidentiality agreements initially prevented her from telling Ribeiro. By the time producers discovered she had not yet spoken to him, they instructed her to keep the surprise intact.
“That was actually one of the hardest parts in this pre-process,” she said, explaining that she had wanted to ask him about the experience.
The season also recruits another performer strongly associated with a dance film. Jenna Dewan, who starred in 2006's Step Up and later appeared in ABC's The Rookie, is partnered with Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Dewan said the film's 20th anniversary makes some kind of tribute difficult to resist.
“We have to, right, for sure,” she said when asked whether viewers might see Step Up moves in the ballroom.
Does previous dance experience create an advantage?
Dewan's casting has already prompted criticism because she worked as a professional dancer before becoming widely known as an actor. Harry Shum Jr., another contestant, also has extensive performance experience through projects including Glee. Stiles, meanwhile, remains closely associated with one of the most memorable dance films of the 2000s.
That hardly makes this a field of complete beginners. It also does not mean ballroom technique arrives automatically with the costume fitting.
Dewan told Entertainment Weekly that she does not know how to ballroom dance and described it as a separate discipline requiring her to unlearn established habits. The distinction is real, even if contestants without professional movement training may find it only moderately comforting.
Experience has always been one of the show's elastic concepts. The format places actors, musicians and athletes with very different physical backgrounds into the same competition, then asks judges and viewers to compare improvement, technique and entertainment value. Season 35 merely makes that imbalance unusually visible from the opening lineup.
Who else is competing in Season 35?
The remaining cast stretches well beyond the nostalgia selections. It includes reality television personalities, elite athletes, a celebrity chef, a musician, digital creators and a baseball entertainer.
The contestants include:
- Love Island personality Maura Higgins
- Actor and dancer Harry Shum Jr.
- Figure skater Amber Glenn
- Bachelor Nation star Tyler Cameron
- Chef Giada De Laurentiis
- Musician Taylor Hanson
- Paralympian Ezra Frech
- Conner Leavitt
- Sarah Jane Nader
- Summer House personality Ciara Miller
- Television personality Guillermo Rodriguez
- Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson
- Comedian and podcaster Connor Wood
ABC's official announcement included Wood, bringing the total to 16 after some early reports listed only 15. The lineup also contains both Conner Leavitt and Connor Wood, a small administrative challenge waiting patiently for live television.
Tyler Cameron will dance with returning professional Sharna Burgess, who is back after several seasons away. Leavitt has been paired with Adele Zaikman, winner of the summer competition Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, making her debut as a professional on the main series.
Professional dancer Daniella Karagach said her Paralympian partner Ezra Frech had renewed her own inspiration through his hunger to learn and respect for dance.
Why ABC is building more than a nostalgia cast
The recognizable names may attract viewers, but ABC is also expanding the franchise around the main broadcast. An official podcast hosted by Andy Richter launches on September 10, several days before the premiere. Robert Irwin will then host a live post-premiere aftershow on September 16.
The addition of Zaikman through The Next Pro also gives the franchise a development route for professional dancers, while the presence of podcasters, reality personalities and a Savannah Bananas player broadens the casting beyond traditional film and television celebrities.
There is a solid commercial reason for all this extra activity. ABC says Season 34 averaged 10 million multiplatform viewers after 35 days. It ranked as television's top entertainment series among adults aged 18 to 49 for a second consecutive season and delivered the programme's most-watched finale in a decade.
Season 35 therefore arrives with a proven audience, a larger surrounding media operation and enough early debate about dance credentials to keep social media occupied before anyone receives a score. The two-night premiere begins Tuesday, September 15, and continues Wednesday, September 16, on ABC and Disney+.
