Dancing With the Stars is heading back to ABC and Disney+ on September 15, 2026, and the early GMA DWTS announcement already gives the season a clear starting point: four celebrities are confirmed to compete. Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson and Guillermo Rodriguez are all set for season 35.
That is the reason the new season is already drawing attention. Before the first dance is even rehearsed, viewers know when the competition begins and who is in the mix, which is enough to send fans searching for the rest of the cast and the first pairings.
For Guillermo Rodriguez, the reveal carries a familiar kind of spotlight. Rodriguez first drew attention as a parking lot security guard at the Hollywood Masonic Temple before becoming a longtime on-air personality and comedian on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He is also already paired with season 34 champion Witney Carson, a detail that gives his run an immediate edge in the conversation around season 35.
The same early-interest pattern follows the others named so far. Miller made her debut on Bravo’s Summer House in 2021, later appeared on The Traitors US season 3 and co-hosted Love Island: Aftersun in 2026. Higgins first appeared on the fifth season of Love Island UK in 2019 and went on to place runner-up on The Traitors US season 4 in 2026. Olson, the second baseman for the Savannah Bananas, brings a huge online audience with more than 2 million followers on TikTok.
The cast picture is still incomplete, and that is where the speculation starts to outrun the facts. Fans can already see the shape of season 35, but the full lineup has not been confirmed, so the names floating around social media are still guesses, not additions. In other words, the announcement has opened the door, but it has not yet shown the whole room.
What is certain is the date. Season 35 arrives on September 15, 2026, and the confirmed names already give it enough star power to make the rest of the reveal matter. The next real update will not be another round of rumor; it will be the missing cast list.
