Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It” received an unexpected transformation during the “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 premiere when comedian and podcaster Connor Wood teamed up with professional dancer Rylee Arnold for a playful cha-cha.
Wood and Arnold performed during the first night of the special two-night premiere on September 15. Season 35 divided its 16 celebrities into two groups, with the eight male contestants competing on the opening night and the eight women performing the following evening.
The premiere came with a nostalgic challenge: every celebrity had to perform to a song that reached No. 1 during the year they were born. For Wood, born in 1995, that assignment led him and Arnold to McGraw’s country favorite “I Like It, I Love It.”
Instead of trying to make the song resemble a traditional ballroom number, Arnold’s choreography leaned into its upbeat and playful personality. The result was an unusual combination of ’90s country music and Latin-inspired cha-cha movement that helped their routine stand apart from several other performances that night.
Wood entered “DWTS” without formal dance experience, making his first routine a significant challenge. Before the premiere, he said friends with previous connections to the show had encouraged him to enjoy the experience and give everything he had once he stepped onto the ballroom floor.
Carrie Ann Inaba admitted she was “pleasantly surprised” by Wood’s performance. While acknowledging that some movements were technically incorrect, she saw a softness and sweetness in the way he moved that gave the routine an appealing quality.
Derek Hough was also entertained by the new partnership. He described Wood and Arnold as a “double dose of dopamine,” praising their charisma and connection while making clear that Wood still had work to do on his technique as the competition continued.
Bruno Tonioli joined in the positive reaction, comparing the couple to the king and queen of the prom. Like the other judges, however, he emphasized that stronger technique would be necessary while encouraging Wood to maintain the same ability to connect with the audience.
The judges ultimately awarded Wood and Arnold 16 points out of 30, with Inaba giving them a 6 and Hough and Tonioli each awarding a 5. That tied them with Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart on the Night One leaderboard.
Their score placed them behind Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, and Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess. Still, Wood’s personality and his easy chemistry with Arnold gave the judges reasons to believe there was room for improvement.
Wood and Arnold eventually found themselves among the three couples left waiting during the elimination announcement, alongside Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson and Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman. Wood and Arnold were declared safe, while Leavitt and Zaikman became the first couple eliminated from Season 35.
Now Wood is already looking toward his next performance. He told Us Weekly that the upcoming routine will reveal a very different, more “sultry” side of him, while Arnold said they plan to focus heavily on improving his technique. Their country-to-cha-cha experiment may have been rough around the edges, but it gave Wood a memorable first night—and another chance to prove how much he can improve in the ballroom.
