Dancing With the Stars Season 35 began with an unusual two-night premiere that immediately put the celebrities under pressure. Instead of waiting until the following week for the first elimination, the show sent one male celebrity home after the first night and one female celebrity home after the second, creating a double elimination before the competition had even settled into its regular schedule.
The first night featured the male celebrities taking over the ballroom, with their professional partners by their sides. Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli evaluated the performances, while viewers also had the opportunity to vote. The judges’ scores and audience votes were then combined to determine which couple would continue and which would have to leave the competition.
When the first results were revealed, Conner Leavitt and professional partner Adele Zaikman became the first couple eliminated from Season 35. The pair performed a salsa to Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” and received a score of 12 out of 30 from the judges. Although the judges recognized Leavitt’s enthusiasm, they also pointed to problems with his salsa technique and timing.
For Zaikman, the elimination was particularly emotional because this season marked her debut as a professional dancer on the main show. She had earned her place after winning the inaugural season of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, making her first appearance in the professional lineup a significant moment in her career. Despite the early exit, she described the experience as a dream come true.
Leavitt also had a personal connection to the competition through his wife, Whitney Leavitt, who competed on the previous season with Mark Ballas. Whitney’s own journey ended just one week before the Season 34 finale, making Conner’s appearance another chapter for the couple within the DWTS ballroom. After his elimination, he praised Zaikman and expressed excitement about viewers getting to see her talent.
The second night brought the female celebrities into the competition, and the stakes remained just as high. Once again, judges’ scores were combined with viewer votes, but this time another couple would face the end of their journey before the cast moved into the regular weekly competition.
That second elimination went to Sarah Jane Nader and professional partner Hailey Bills. The pair performed a jive to Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and earned 14 out of 30 from the judges. Although Derek Hough saw potential in their performance, Carrie Ann Inaba noted that they were out of sync for much of the routine, while the combined result of their score and viewer support was not enough to keep them in the competition.
Nader’s exit carried an additional emotional significance because she and Bills represented one of the few same-sex partnerships in the show’s history. Following their performance, Nader spoke about the importance of sharing the ballroom with another woman and said she hoped their early elimination would not diminish the impact of their appearance.
The unusual premiere format meant that two couples were gone before the competition entered its regular rhythm. With 16 celebrity-professional partnerships originally taking part, the exits of Leavitt and Zaikman followed by Nader and Bills left 14 couples moving forward into the next stage of the season.
For longtime Dancing With the Stars viewers, the Season 35 premiere delivered an unusually emotional start, with two couples saying goodbye after only one night of competition for their respective groups. Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman became the first team eliminated, followed by Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills, setting the stage for a season in which every performance and every viewer vote can quickly change a celebrity’s journey.
Compiled with information from various sources.
