The GMA DWTS announcement puts Dancing With the Stars season 35 on ABC and Disney+ for September 15, 2026, with four contestants already in place. Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson, and Guillermo Rodriguez are the first names attached to the new run, and the rollout is clearly being staged to keep attention on the cast reveal rather than the premiere date alone.
Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson
Guillermo Rodriguez is the most notable early booking in the group because his television profile is tied to a very different path: he first gained attention as a parking lot security guard at the Hollywood Masonic Temple before becoming a longtime on-air personality and comedian on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He is paired with Witney Carson, which gives season 35 one of its first professional partnerships before the full field is locked in.
Ciara Miller brings a different kind of recognition into the season. She made her debut on Bravo's Summer House in 2021, later appeared on The Traitors US season 3, and co-hosted Love Island: Aftersun in 2026. That mix of reality-TV and hosting credits helps explain why she fits the show’s current cast strategy: recognizable names with enough screen time to carry the early weeks while the rest of the lineup is still unfolding.
Maura Higgins and Jackson Olson
Maura Higgins first appeared on the fifth season of Love Island UK in 2019 and placed runner-up on The Traitors US season 4 in 2026. Jackson Olson comes from a different lane entirely as the second baseman for the Savannah Bananas, and he has more than 2 million followers on TikTok. Those two additions widen the season’s reach across reality television and sports entertainment, which is exactly the kind of cross-audience casting the series has leaned on in recent cycles.
Four names is not a full roster, and that is the point. Fans are eager for the full cast reveal, but only four contestants are already attached to season 35, so the announcement functions as a starting line rather than a complete lineup. The staggered rollout keeps the show in the conversation before September 15, while leaving room for the rest of the cast to be unveiled around the premiere window.
September 15 on ABC and Disney+
September 15, 2026 now sets the clock for the season’s return on ABC and Disney+, and the early list gives viewers a first read on the competition’s direction. For anyone tracking the season, the immediate question is simple: who else will be in the Dancing With the Stars season 35 cast?
