Hailey Bills and Sarah Jane Nader have turned rehearsal time into the story before they have even stepped onto the live stage together on Dancing With the Stars. Bills posted an Instagram video on September 10 showing the two of them on the floor of a rehearsal space, and the caption made the point plainly: they had officially met 2 weeks ago.
That detail is why the pairing is getting so much attention now. In season 35, Nader and Bills are the third same-sex couple in the show’s 35-season run and the second all-female pairing, which gives every rehearsal clip a little more weight than a standard pre-show tease. The two-part season premiere is underway on ABC, the male contestants were slated to perform first, and the female contestants were scheduled to take the floor on September 16.
The buildup has been steady. A later video showed Nader and Bills holding hands and moving in sync to Waka Flocka Flame’s “No Hands,” while Nader’s TikTok account included a September 13 video from the DWTS stage with Bills and Amber Glenn. On September 14, Nader posted another clip of herself and Bills trying “The Cup Song.” Their shared shorthand even has a name: “Estrogenz.”
What is missing is the live performance itself. For all the online chemistry and the rehearsal-space clips, Nader and Bills have not officially debuted together on DWTS yet, which leaves the obvious question hanging over the next broadcast: what will the pair actually do when the cameras are on and the routine has to stand on its own?
The answer should come on September 16, when the female contestants are scheduled to perform during the two-part season premiere on ABC. Until then, the rehearsal videos are doing the work of a debut, and for a pairing this rare, that is enough to keep the audience watching.
