Dancing with the Stars Cuts 2 Contestants in Season 35 Premiere

Q: Did a massive technical glitch unfairly cost one couple their spot on the Dancing with the Stars premiere?

There is no clear evidence that the technical glitch unfairly cost a couple their spot, but it did affect the process on Night 1. During the Sept. 15 premiere, ABC said its online voting system crashed after the second dance. Hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro told viewers that online votes would not count and that only text-message votes would be used for that night’s elimination. The show still went ahead with eliminating Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman. That created an obvious fairness concern because some viewers may have tried to vote online before learning those votes would be discarded. The confusion may have been compounded by the cast including both Conner Leavitt and Connor Wood, with different text keywords required for each. Even so, the available reporting does not show that another result would likely have occurred if online votes had been counted. Leavitt and Zaikman were near the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard with 12 out of 30. Only Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson scored lower, with 10. ABC also said total vote volume was more than double last season’s premiere, despite the crash, suggesting heavy participation even under the text-only system. So the glitch unquestionably disrupted voting and raised questions about whether all fans had an equal chance to participate. But based on the scores and the information released so far, there is no proof that it definitively cost one specific couple a place in the competition.

Q: How did a discarded vote controversy still result in record-breaking numbers for the Season 35 premiere?

The discarded online votes did not prevent *Dancing with the Stars* from posting record-breaking premiere numbers because the controversy was caused by unusually heavy audience participation, not a lack of interest. On night one, ABC’s online voting system crashed after overwhelming traffic, forcing the show to throw out website votes and count only text-message votes for the elimination. Even with only text votes counted, hosts said the total vote volume was still more than double last season’s premiere. That indicates the glitch itself was a byproduct of demand. The same pattern showed up in the ratings. Nielsen data reported that the Sept. 15 opener drew about 6.67 million viewers across ABC and Disney+, up 24% from last year’s premiere and the show’s biggest season-opening audience since 2020. In the key adults 18-49 demographic, the premiere rose 40% year over year to a 1.48 rating, its best premiere performance in that measure since 2017. Among women 18-34, it delivered its strongest season-premiere rating since 2013. In practical terms, the voting controversy appears to have highlighted how engaged the audience was. The season opened with a cast that generated strong fan response, and viewers were motivated enough to keep voting by text after online voting failed. Rather than suppressing the premiere’s impact, the technical problem underscored the scale of the show’s turnout and coincided with one of its strongest launches in years.

3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Sep 17

Conner Leavitt and Sarah Jane Nader became the first Season 35 eliminations in the show's two-night premiere, each exiting after one performance.
Leavitt and pro Adele Zaikman were sent home on Sept. 15 after a salsa to "Whoomp! (There It Is)," while Nader and pro Hailey Bills exited Sept. 16 after a jive to "Sk8er Boi."
The double elimination followed the show's standard format, with judges' scores combined with viewer votes to decide which couples advanced.
14 couples remain in the competition for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, with regular episodes now airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.