Julianne Hough has high hopes for the season 35 cast of Dancing With the Stars — but she won’t name a frontrunner just yet.
“I’m Switzerland, because I’m one of the hosts of the show, and I want them to be able to come to me and feel very safe,” Hough, 38, told Us exclusively while attending the 2026 Emmy Awards on Monday, September 14, at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. “But I will say that I think there are some dark horses.”
Hough continued, “I think that everybody’s going to have their own special, unique quality. And as we know, the show is not just about the dancing. It is about the vulnerability. It’s about connection. It’s about opening yourself up so that everybody can be a part of your journey.”
The Emmys took place just one day before the two-episode DWTS premiere kicks off on Tuesday, September 15. Hough joked that the excitement surrounding season 35 felt like “a millennial wet dream.”
“We’re doing the male stars first and the female stars [after],” the former pro turned cohost said of the new DWTS premiere format. “We’re mixing it up a little bit while still staying consistent.”
A two-time mirrorball trophy winner herself, Hough is going back to her choreographing roots for the premiere event.
“I actually haven’t choreographed a piece on Dancing With the Stars since I won my Emmy back in 2015,” she told Us, teasing the inspiration behind her “amazing” piece. “It’s based off of this experience that I had one night in Paris with a gentleman. I don’t even know his name, and I’m reimagining this piece so that people can go on this love affair that I experienced.”
While there’s a wide variety of stars hitting the ballroom floor this season — from Olympic athletes to beloved ’90s actors — some fans have questioned whether a contestant’s prior dance experience could give them an unfair advantage. (Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr., for example, have extensive dance training and have both appeared in the Step Up franchise.)
“That conversation has been happening since season 1,” Hough said on Monday. “But it’s not Dancing With the Non-Dancers. It’s Dancing With the Stars, [and] this show is so much more than just about the dancing. It is about the raw vulnerability.”
Hough pointed out that the quality of dance featured on the show will be even better with such a competitive group of celebs.
“I think over the last 20 years, Dancing With the Stars has genuinely educated the general population on what good dancing is, and we want to see good dancing,” she explained. “You know, last year, there was amazing dancing, so we should have amazing dancing again.”
Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
