On September 26, 2023, “Dancing With The Stars” premiered its 32nd season. After appearing exclusively on Disney+ last season, the show returned to its former channel, ABC, and was broadcasted live on both platforms.
As per usual, 14 celebrities and their dance partners were selected to compete in the weekly ballroom-dance competition. Included in the cast this season are model and actor Tyson Beckford, actress Xochitl Gomez, actress Alyson Hannigan, reality TV star Harry Jowsey, “The Bachelorette” star Charity Lawson, Ariana Madix from “Vanderpump Rules,” singer Jason Mraz, NFL running back Adrian Peterson, social media star Lele Pons, actress Mira Sorvino, actress Jamie Lynn Spears, real estate broker Mauricio Umansky, comedian Matt Walsh and actor Barry Williams.
Among the cast members, 17 year-old Gomez serves as the youngest celebrity this season while 68 year-old Williams is the oldest.
As for the professional dancers, the majority of the cast from previous seasons has returned. Joining the show for her first season is Jowsey’s partner, Rylee Arnold. Arnold is the sister of former “Dancing With The Stars” pro and winner of season 25 Lindsay Arnold. At just 18 years old, Arnold is the youngest of the pros this season.
The returning pros this season are Brandon Armstrong (paired with Pons), Alan Bersten (paired with Spears), Artem Chigvintsev (paired with Lawson), Val Chmerkovskiy (paired with Gomez), Sasha Farber (paired with Hannigan), Koko Iwasaki (paired with Walsh), Jenna Johnson (paired with Beckford), Daniella Karagach (paired with Mraz), Peta Murgatroyd (paired with Williams), Pasha Pashkov (paired with Madix), Gleb Savchenko (paired with Sorvino), Emma Slater (paired with Umansky) and Britt Stewart (paired with Peterson).
Returning as judges this season are Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. After passing away from cancer in April, the judges are without Len Goodman. In honor of Goodman, the Mirrorball Trophy awarded to the winner of the season has been renamed the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
After hosting the show for three seasons, Tyra Banks decided to not return. Replacing Banks is former co-host Alfonso Ribeiro. Julianne Hough takes over as co-host this season.
Since 2007, the show has aired on Monday evenings on ABC. This season, however, the network chose to move the episodes to Tuesday nights so as to not conflict with ABC’s hosting of Monday Night Football.
Each week, aside from premiere night, a different theme is chosen for the dances to follow. The theme for Week 2 was “Latin Night” in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Week 3 will be themed after Motown music.
Joining the judges for Week 3 as a guest is “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan.
Fans of the show can watch live episodes on ABC or Disney+ every Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The show also streams on Hulu.
Viewers are excited to have their favorite dance show back for another season and look forward to what’s to come in season 32!
