Dancing With the Stars has added a beloved late night TV fixture to its season 35 roster.
Scheduled to premiere mid-September, the new season of the hit ABC dance competition series will welcome back Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli to the judging panel, alongside returning co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough.
The long-running show, considered the American equivalent of Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing, features celebrities paired with professional dancers who train them to compete in ballroom dancing.
While the full lineup won’t be announced until September 2 on Good Morning America, a few early names have been revealed, including Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez — who has been a staple of Jimmy Kimmel Live! for more than 23 years — was announced as the ballroom’s latest addition Wednesday night.
“I have a major announcement to make. I have been authorized, deputized even, by the Walt Disney Company and our television network, ABC, to reveal the name of a major celebrity contestant who will be competing on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars,” Kimmel teased during Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode.
“This person is someone you know, someone you love. He is someone we know quite well. The star who will be dancing and competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy on season 35 of Dancing with the Stars is our very own Guillermo.”
Read below for the full list of confirmed celebrities appearing on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars. This article will be updated in due time.
Guillermo Rodriguez
After being discovered while working as a security guard at the parking lot of Hollywood Boulevard Masonic Temple studio, the home of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Guillermo Rodriguez, 55, has become a fan-favorite presence of the ABC talk show.
Joining host Kimmel on stage in a blue flamenco costume during Wednesday’s segment, Rodriguez said: “I’m excited! I’m very happy,” confirming that he was up for the challenge.
Kimmel jokingly requested that he promise not to lose “a single adorable pound,” to which Rodriguez replied: “I promise. If I lose 5 lbs, I’m gonna gain 10 lbs back right away!”
Ciara Miller
The 30-year-old Summer House star was one of the first two celebrity cast members announced. Miller joined the season 35 cast last month, amid a fierce friendship fallout with Summer House co-star Amanda Batula over her relationship with Miller’s ex-boyfriend, West Wilson.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about having Miller on DWTS, executive producer and casting head Deena Katz said: “I already knew Ciara. She was on Traitors, and she’s wonderful. She’s stunning, she’s gorgeous; she’s all these things.
“And then the stuff that happened to her, it was a really of the moment thing that we all felt like it was the right time. We really wanted her on the show, but it was also the right time to announce her.”
Maura Higgins
Along with Miller, Irish reality star Higgins, 35, was also revealed last month to be competing on season 35 of DWTS. She is best known to U.S. audiences from her recent appearance on The Traitors season four, where she made it to the finale, but she’s long been known to U.K. viewers from turns on I’m a Celeb and Love Island.
Higgins has been eager to appear on DWTS since Katz cast her in The Traitors. “[Maura] texts me every time she’s coming to L.A. She wants to have lunch. She’s been dying to do the show, and she’s fantastic. She’s great television,” Katz added to The Hollywood Reporter.
“[Maura] is exactly what our show is, and she’s having a moment right now, so that was a no-brainer. And knowing what was going to happen with Traitors and seeing the buzz about her, she was fantastic.”
Jackson Olson
Savannah Bananas baseball star Olson, 28, will trade in his cleats for dance shoes. The second baseman for the Georgia-based barnstorming exhibition team — who has amassed more than 3 million followers across TikTok and Instagram — was announced Tuesday at the Disney Upfronts presentation. Olson’s inclusion appears to be part of the network’s strategy to expand its reach to include social media stars.
“I was a shy kid that never danced, never put myself out there, and never entertained,” he admitted Wednesday on Good Morning America. “And now I kind of manifested this whole thing.”
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