Dancing With the Stars Season 35: First Elimination Shocker, a Ringer in the Ballroom, and a Voting Meltdown

The mirrorball is back, and Dancing With the Stars wasted no time reminding everyone why it’s still one of the loudest conversations on television. Season 35 kicked off Tuesday night with the first half of an unusual two-night premiere, and by the time the credits rolled, fans had a first elimination, a clear frontrunner, a fan-favorite underdog, and a technical mess to argue about.

The Two-Night Premiere Twist

With 16 celebrities in the competition this year, producers split the opening week down the middle. The male celebrities performed Tuesday, September 15, with the women taking the floor Wednesday, September 16 — and one contestant going home each night.

Not everyone loved the format. Pro Mark Ballas publicly questioned the fairness of splitting the cast in half and eliminating one from each group, pointing out that it doesn’t create an even playing field. The last time the show opened with a double elimination in week one was the shortened all-athletes season back in 2018.

Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro return as co-hosts, with Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli back at the judges’ table.

Conner Leavitt Goes Home First

The night’s first casualty was Conner Leavitt, husband of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt. Paired with new pro Adele Zaikman — the first-ever winner of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro — Leavitt performed a salsa to Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” and picked up 12 out of 30 from the judges. Enthusiasm was never the issue; technique was, and the scores said so.

Worth noting for anyone frantically Googling: there are two similarly named men in this cast. Conner Leavitt was eliminated. Comedian and podcaster Connor Wood, partnered with Rylee Arnold, is still very much in the competition after scoring 16.

Harry Shum Jr. Is the Early Favorite

If you were suspicious the moment Harry Shum Jr.’s name appeared on the cast list, congratulations — you were right. The Glee and Step Up alum came in with more dance experience than most celebrities who’ve ever set foot in this ballroom, and he delivered a cha-cha to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove” that topped the night with 21 out of 30 alongside partner Jenna Johnson.

Right behind him: Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech, who opened the season with a tango to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and scored 20 with Daniella Karagach. His stage presence drew genuine praise from the panel, and Frech later called it one of the coolest moments of his life. The Frech-Shum rivalry might be the story of this season.

Guillermo Rodriguez: Lowest Score, Loudest Crowd

Then there’s Guillermo Rodriguez. Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime sidekick landed the lowest score of the night — 10 out of 30 — for a cha-cha to Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” with Witney Carson, who is impressively competing while pregnant. Derek Hough summed it up bluntly: the technique wasn’t there, but the effort absolutely was.

The crowd didn’t care about technique one bit. The audience chanted his name and actually booed the judges’ scores. If there’s one contestant whose survival will depend entirely on the vote rather than the leaderboard, it’s Guillermo — and history suggests that can carry someone remarkably far.

The Voting Problem

The premiere hit a snag that lit up social media almost immediately. After the second performance of the night, Julianne Hough announced that voting on ABC’s website was down and directed viewers to text their votes instead. Alfonso Ribeiro confirmed later in the episode that the site was still offline and that the show would accept text votes only for the evening. In a season that already opened with an unconventional format, a broken voting portal on night one was not the start anyone wanted.

Night One Scores

• Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson — 21/30
• Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach — 20/30
• Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess — 17/30
• Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold — 16/30
• Taylor Hanson & Britt Stewart — 16/30
• Jackson Olson & Emma Slater — 15/30
• Conner Leavitt & Adele Zaikman — 12/30 (eliminated)
• Guillermo Rodriguez & Witney Carson — 10/30

What’s Next

Night two brings the women to the floor, including Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles, Giada De Laurentiis, Tatyana Ali, Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller, and Olympic figure skating champion Amber Glenn. One of them goes home, and Season 34 mirrorball winner Robert Irwin hosts the DWTS After Party immediately afterward to break it all down.

Fifteen couples remain. The gap between the leaderboard and the fan vote is already wide — and that tension is exactly what makes this show impossible to look away from.