“Dancing with the Stars” kicked off its 34th season on Sept. 16. The show is also celebrating its 20th year on air, with hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough teasing a “20th Birthday Party” later on in the season. The premiere shared 14 new stars to pair up with 13 returning dance pros and one new pro. The new pro, Jan Ravnik, is a star in his own right, with claims to fame as one of Taylor Swift’s dancers on the Eras Tour.
The new stars range in careers from athletes, actors and social media influencers. First up to the dancefloor was gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles and her partner Ezra Sosa; After kicking off the first dance of the season with a salsa to Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” they received a 10/20 score. The second pair on the floor was influencer Dylan Efron, brother of Zac, and his partner Daniella Karagach; they also received a 10/20 after their cha-cha. The actress Elaine Hendrix, best known for her role as Meredith Blake in “The Parent Trap,” paired up with pro Alan Bersten for a cha-cha as well.
A surprising casting this season is not one, but two stars of the hit show, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”: Whitney Leavitt (partnered with Mark Ballas) and Jen Affleck (partnered with Jan Ravnik). Every season typically brings in an unexpected athlete, with Season 34 bringing in NBA All-Star Baron Davis. He paired up with Britt Stewart, and their first dance was a cha-cha to MC Hammer. Adding to the social media influencer lineup are Alix Earle and Hilaria Baldwin. Forbes named Earle a top creator, and she is paired up this season with Val Chmerkovskiy. Baldwin, the wife of actor Alec Baldwin, focuses her brand on health and wellness and is partnered with pro Gleb Savchenko.
Of the musicians brought to the floor this season, Scott Hoying of the a cappella group Pentatonix joins the cast, dancing with last year’s finalist pro Rylee Arnold. Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony swaps singing music for dancing to it as she also joins the cast alongside her partner Brandon Armstrong. Musician and actor Corey Feldman, best known for his roles in movies such as “Stand By Me” and “The Goonies,” teamed up with Jenna Johnson. Coming off a Season 33 win, Johnson had high hopes to bring home another Mirrorball trophy with Feldman. Alongside fellow actors Feldman and Hendrix, “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel partnered up with Pasha Pashkov to deliver a 12/20 routine. The last two competitors this season are comedian Andy Richter and world-famous wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin. Richter paired up with Emma Slater for a cha-cha, and Irwin and partner Witney Carson brought a showstopping conclusion with a jive. At the end of all fourteen performances, Leavitt and Irwin tied for top score, with 15 out of 20, followed closely by Baldwin and Savchenko’s 14. The lowest score was Feldman and Johnson’s 9, but the premiere episode had no eliminations.
In episode two, “One-Hit Wonders Night,” which aired Sept. 23, dancers competed to save themselves from the surprise double-elimination. Teams, after working all week on improving their skills, danced with more confidence and ability now that the competition had actually begun. While some teams continued to shine, like Irwin and Leavitt, others fell short. Robert and Witney both scored an impressive 22/30, and although it tied them up with Affleck and Chiles for the night, they still had a tied lead overall after two weeks. However, the two couples that didn’t quite hit their marks were Davis and partner Stewart and Feldman and partner Johnson. These two pairs received the lowest number of points between judge scores and viewer votes.
Feldman was especially disappointed at the elimination, saying Johnson “deserved better … she was the queen from last year. She deserves to be the champ every year.” More positively, Davis was just happy for the opportunity to get back in shape and have some fun after basketball retirement. At the end of the episode, the hosts reminded everyone to tune back in for week three on Sept. 30 for “TikTok Night,” which will feature guest star and Season 31 champion, Charli D’Amelio.
