Dancing With the Stars has begun building its Season 35 roster around reality TV reach and social-media pull, with Savannah Bananas second baseman and internet personality Jackson Olson joining Maura Higgins and Ciara Miller as the first three confirmed contestants for the fall run. ABC announced Olson on May 12, after the April reveal of Higgins and Miller, and said the full celebrity and professional dancer lineup will be unveiled Sept. 2 on Good Morning America. The series will air live on ABC and Disney+ and stream the next day on Hulu.
Olson’s casting extends the show’s recent interest in contestants who arrive with a built-in digital audience. ABC described him as a Bananas player and content creator, while pointing to Season 34’s momentum: 72 million finale votes, nearly half a billion votes across the season and a 10 million-viewer average over 35 days of multiplatform viewing. ABC’s fall schedule keeps the show in its Tuesday 8 p.m. slot, followed by the new drama R.J. Decker.
The first two contestants signal a reality-heavy opening strategy. Higgins enters from Love Island and The Traitors, where she placed second, while Miller comes from Summer House and her own Traitors run. At Hulu’s Get Real House event, Higgins said she knows the competition will be “so, so hard,” adding that she plans to put “my all into it.” Miller called the timing “the perfect moment” and said she was opening “a new chapter.”
Season 35 will arrive after a summer expansion of the franchise. Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro premieres July 13 on ABC, with Season 34 champion Robert Irwin hosting 12 rising dancers competing for a professional slot on the main show. Mark Ballas and Shirley Ballas will judge, joined by rotating mentors and guest judges. Irwin has already backed Higgins as a possible contender, saying in an interview that “the luck is on your side” after her early reveal echoed his own path last season.
The schedule also shows ABC is sticking with the current single-night format. The old results-show structure has no fall slot, leaving Season 35 to lean again on live voting, viral clips and fan campaigns that peak during the Tuesday broadcast window. For a series that has turned casting into a year-round conversation, Olson, Higgins and Miller give the new season a head start before the full cast reveal.
