'Dancing With the Stars' Season 35: Reality stars Maura Higgins and Ciara Miller named as 1st contestants
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Kate MurphyThu, April 23, 2026 at 4:14 PM UTC
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ABC’s Dancing With the Stars is returning for Season 35 this fall, and two celebrity reality stars will join the cast for the first time.
Maura Higgins, who is best known for her appearances on The Traitors and Love Island U.K., and Ciara Miller, star of Summer House, were the first to be announced as contestants on the upcoming season of the dance competition show.
Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough will return as cohosts for Season 35, while the trio of judges — Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli — will also return.
The full cast and their pro dance partners will be announced at a later date.
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Can’t wait until the fall to get your DWTS fix? Catch the new series Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro this summer.The show, hosted by DWTS Season 34 champion Robert Irwin, will feature 12 up-and-coming pro dancers who move into one house, where they’ll compete to earn a spot on DWTS Season 35. It premieres on July 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
ABC made the cast and spinoff series announcements on Wednesday during Hulu’s Get Real House 2026 presentation.
Return to Yahoo for an list of cast members and their pairings as they’re announced.
Maura Higgins
Maura Higgins at a Vanity Fair party in Los Angeles. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images)
Higgins first gained major attention in 2019 when she appeared on Season 5 of the U.K. reality TV series Love Island. She was the first British cast member to cross over to the U.S. version of the series and served as host for Peacock’s Love Island USA: Aftersun and Love Island Games: Aftersun. Higgins most recently appeared in Season 4 of Peacock’s The Traitors. As a faithful, she finished in second place after being betrayed by her best friend in the game, Love Island USA alum Rob Rausch, the last remaining traitor, who won the competition.
Ciara Miller
Ciara Miller at a Vanity Fair party in Los Angeles. (JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images)
Miller is a former ICU nurse best known for appearing on Bravo’s SummerHouse from Seasons 5 through 10. She also competed on Season 4 of The Traitors. Miller was recently involved in controversy related to Summer House when it was revealed that Miller’s best friend, Amanda Batula, had begun a relationship with Miller’s ex, West Wilson. Both are also Summer House stars.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
