[This story contains spoilers from the season 35 premiere of Dancing With the Stars.]
Dancing With the Stars is finally back for season 35, and the festivities for the new season have kicked off with a special two-night premiere.
As previously announced, the premiere episodes are split by gender, with the slate of eight male celebrities performing on Tuesday night, as the eight women celebrities will follow on Wednesday night. With a cast of 16 competing couples, the split premiere will ensure each celebrity and their professional dance partner get time to shine during the season 35 premiere.
Coming off a dynamic, Emmy-nominated 34th season, the cast is full of reality stars, Olympians and (ABC) television stars a plenty. For both nights, the celebrities will dance to a No. 1 song from the year they were born, and yes, someone will be eliminated.
Competing on Tuesday night were The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron; Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech; “Hanson” band member Taylor Hanson; Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ star Whitney Leavitt’s husband Conner Leavitt; Savannah Bananas baseball star Jackson Olson; Jimmy Kimmel Live! star Guillermo Rodriguez; Grey’s Anatomy actor Harry Shum Jr.; and influencer/comedian Connor Wood.
At the end of the Tuesday’s premiere, Conner Leavitt was eliminated from DWTS. He was partnered with Adele Zaikman, the first-ever winner of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.
After the second dance of the night, performed by Tyler and Sharna Burgess, host Julianne Hough revealed that voting was down on ABC’s website, and that viewers should send in their votes via text. Alfonso Ribeiro announced after Conner’s performance that website voting was still down, and the show was only accepting votes via text for Tuesday night’s premiere.
During Tyler’s critiques, Derek Hough mistakenly called him Dylan. Despite the name mishap from the judge, Tyler was the early leader of the night, scoring a 17/30. However, Ezra took over that lead, earning the first two sevens from the judges, bringing his total to 20/30. The final dance of the night, performed by Harry and Jenna Johnson, ended up being the highest score of the night; the Grey’s Anatomy actor earned all three sevens from the judges, landing at 21/30.
“That was one of the coolest moments of my life,” Ezra told The Hollywood Reporter after the premiere. Harry also reflected on earning the night’s highest score, saying that “it felt great,” also given his past dance experience was highlighted by the judges.
“The technique and all that, you work hard on, and I worked really hard, like countless hours in the mirror, putting weights on my arms and on my wrists and she saw I brought it in just to kind of like really make it feel like it’s natural,” he said, as his partner Jenna Johnson added, “His dedication is next level, you guys.”
Harry added, “I really feel so honored to be able to have this privilege to try [dance] on this level with someone like Jenna who can actually correct me properly. I’m ready for this teacher student moment to keep going.”
Guillermo told THR he was “feeling great” after his first dance, and that he was looking forward to the second week. Of the praise he received from the audience on premiere night, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! star said, “I was so happy when I saw everybody going crazy. I was like, Oh my God, thank God! And thank to all the fans, and keep voting for us.”
The rest of the cast competing on Wednesday night includes The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Tatyana Ali; celebrity chef and Food Network host Giada De Laurentiis; The Rookie and Step Up star Jenna Dewan; Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn; reality star (Love Island, The Traitors) Maura Higgins; Summer House star Ciara Miller; Love Thy Nader reality star Sarah Jane Nader; and 10 Things I Hate About You actress Julia Stiles.
The couple with the lowest combined total of judges’ scores and viewer votes is eliminated at the end of each DWTS episode. Live voting takes place during the East Coast airing of each show and ends shortly after the final performance is completed; that means if you’re a West Coast viewer and want to vote for your favorite couple, you must do so between 5 p.m. PT to roughly 6:45 p.m. PT, as voting ends after the final performance.
See the full list of scores for the first premiere episode of DWTS season 35, featuring only performances from the male celebrities, below.
Jackson Olson and Emma Slater: 15/30
Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess: 17/30
Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman: 12/30 (ELIMINATED)
Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson: 10/30
Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach: 20/30
Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold: 16/30
Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart: 16/30
Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson: 21/30
Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars premieres on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m., simulcasting across ABC and Disney+, and streaming the next day on Hulu. Check out all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s DWTS coverage here.