Dancing with the Stars is heading into Dedication Night on Oct. 20, when the 10 remaining couples will take the ballroom with performances meant to honor the people and places that shaped them. Kym Johnson is also set to return as a guest judge, giving the live Season 35 episode another familiar face at the table.
The timing matters because viewers searching for what time is Dancing with the Stars are looking at the next live turn in the competition, not a rerun or a taped special. The episode follows last week’s Super Bowl Night, when Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson got their scores and Carrie Ann Inaba called out an illegal lift in their routine.
That criticism did not end on the scoreboard. After the show, Val Chmerkovskiy defended Jenna Johnson in a since-deleted social media post, then later apologized for the comment. Studios then made him sit out this week’s episode, which leaves Jenna Dewan paired with Alan Bersten on Dedication Night while the rest of the field keeps moving forward.
The lineup shows how much is still in play in Season 35. Tatyana Ali is with Jan Ravnik, Tyler Cameron with Sharna Burgess, Ezra Frech with Daniella Karagach, Amber Glenn with Pasha Pashkov, Maura Higgins with Mark Ballas, Jackson Olson with Emma Slater, Harry Shum Jr. with Jenna Johnson, and Julia Stiles with Ezra Sosa. The show has not said who leaves after Oct. 20, and that is the real question hanging over the night.
Dedication Night has always worked because it pushes the competition toward something personal without slowing it down. This time, the stakes are simple: the 10 remaining couples dance, Kym Johnson returns, and the field gets smaller again when the scores and viewer vote do their work.
