Double elimination kicks off Dancing With the Stars season 35
Page Six reported that actress Sarah Jane Nader and professional dancer Hailey Bills were eliminated on the second night of the season-35 premiere, the first female exit of the opening week on September 17, 2026. The previous night, Deadline said the male celebrities performed and a technical glitch forced ABC to discard online votes, leaving only text-message voting; consequently, reality star Conner Leavitt and his partner Adele Zaikman were the first to leave.
Yahoo noted the online-voting failure limited voting to text messages, and The Independent confirmed that the glitch nullified online votes before judges’ scores were applied. ABC News had earlier previewed the two-night launch on September 15, 2026, featuring separate male and female line-ups and a first-time double elimination.