Amber Glenn is heading from the ice to the ballroom. The 26-year-old Olympian has been announced as a competitor on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars, where she will dance with Pasha Pashkov after making a splash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
For readers searching her name now, the new turn puts Glenn back in the spotlight outside figure skating. She made history as the first queer female skater to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, and her move to the dancing competition gives her another high-profile stage just as attention shifts from medals to entertainment.
Glenn has also been unusually open about who she is and what she wants that visibility to mean. In a 2019 interview with Dallas Voice, she said she did not want to shove her sexuality in people’s faces, but she also did not want to hide who she was. She later told TIME that trying to fit the expected mold of female skaters made her feel like she was betraying herself, and that coming out let her lean into her strengths as an athlete.
That openness has not ended the speculation around her private life. Glenn does not appear to have a partner at the moment, and she has not publicly disclosed her relationship status. Online rumors have followed her before, including a viral TikTok video with Alysa Liu that prompted her to write, “GUYS, ALYSA IS LIKE A LITTLE SISTER TO ME! I’VE KNOWN HER SINCE SHE WAS 10 AND I WAS 16,” and a separate video involving Ilia Malinin, where she replied, “AYO PEOPLE THAT’S NOT ME,” and “IM LITERALLY MID COMPETITION.”
The bigger picture is that Glenn is stepping into Season 35 with her profile higher than ever and her personal life still a subject of curiosity. She has said she will not be quiet about politics, told a press conference it has been a hard time for the LGBTQ+ community overall, and said she hopes to use her platform to encourage people to stay strong. Now the question is whether she can turn that visibility into a run at the Mirrorball trophy.
