The Dancing with the Stars 2026 cast picked up two more names on Monday: Conner Leavitt and Sarah Jane Nader are joining Dancing With the Stars season 35 this fall. The move expands the show’s roster before the full cast reveal on September 2 and keeps the rollout moving toward the two-night premiere on September 15 and September 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
Conner Leavitt is 32, and Sarah Jane Nader is joining after earlier additions already widened the season 35 field. Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas reached the semifinals in season 34, while Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko finished ninth in 2024 on Dancing With the Stars season 33.
September 2 on GMA
Ciara Miller and Maura Higgins were unveiled in April as the first two celebrities to join the cast, and ABC has already said Jackson Olson and Guillermo Rodriguez are on board. Us also reported earlier this week that Tyler Cameron and Jenna Dewan will be joining DWTS this year, which leaves the season 35 lineup in a staggered reveal rather than a single clean drop.
The practical part for viewers is simple: more names are arriving before pairings are fully laid out, and the production is using the runway to build the cast in stages. ABC has already announced one pairing, Guillermo Rodriguez with Witney Carson, so the rest of the lineup will be judged not just by who is in it, but by how the partners are distributed when the full list lands.
Witney Carson on GMA
On Monday, August 17, Witney Carson said on GMA that competing while pregnant felt “very daunting” and added, “I’ve never been this far along pregnant and competing on Dancing With the Stars, ever.” She also said, “I don’t know if it’s ever been done.”
Carson, who recently announced that she is expecting her third baby with Carson McAllister, won DWTS season 34 with Robert Irwin. That creates a sharper storyline for season 35: one of the show’s reigning pros is entering the season with a physical complication the format rarely has to account for, even as the cast list keeps growing around her.
Season 35 pairings
Carson also said, “I’m so proud to be a woman, to be creating life and growing this human, and to be able to do the show and compete … is such a huge blessing.” That quote lands differently because the competition is not just adding names; it is adding a pro whose workload will now be measured against a pregnancy timeline, rehearsal demands, and the standard pace of a live elimination show.
The full Dancing With the Stars cast will be revealed on ABC’s Good Morning America on September 2, and the season starts two weeks later on Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16. For viewers, the next real checkpoint is that cast drop; after that, the remaining open question is how the full season 35 field will be matched beyond Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson.
