Guillermo Rodriguez spent more than two decades making America laugh from behind Jimmy Kimmel’s desk. This fall, he will attempt to make them applaud from a dance floor.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! personality was confirmed Wednesday as the latest celebrity contestant for Dancing with the Stars Season 35, with Kimmel announcing the news during his show’s broadcast. Rodriguez joins previously announced cast members Maura Higgins of The Traitors and Love Island, Summer House fixture Ciara Miller, and Savannah Bananas second baseman Jackson Olson.
Rodriguez’s path to late-night television is one of the more unlikely origin stories in the industry. He was discovered working as a parking lot security guard at the studio before being folded into the show’s DNA, eventually becoming a fixture alongside Kimmel every night and earning his own recurring segments — most notably his boozy appearances on the Oscars red carpet and cross-country road trip sketches that have repeatedly gone viral. He has been with the show for more than 23 years.
He has also made film appearances over the years, including a cameo in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. More recently, Rodriguez launched his own brand of fresh salsa.
Season 35 arrives off the back of a strong Season 34, which posted the show’s highest-rated finale in nearly a decade and recorded 72 million votes in the finale alone, with nearly half a billion cast across the full season.
The complete celebrity and professional dancer lineup will be announced September 2 on ABC’s Good Morning America. Season 35 will simulcast on ABC and Disney+, with episodes available on Hulu the following day. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough return as hosts.
