ABC Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli will judge DWTS for season 32.
Season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars” has a jam-packed cast of celebrities ready to hit the dance floor. Viewers will not, however, be able to tune into the premiere on Monday, September 25. DWTS has usually aired on Monday nights, but the schedule has changed for season 32. Luckily, fans will not have to wait much longer to see everybody tackle their first performances.
Here’s what you need to know:
DWTS Season 32 Will Air on Tuesday Nights
Viewers can expect quite a few changes in season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars.” For starters, the show will air on ABC again, unlike season 31.
As the show’s Instagram page detailed, the episodes will air live on both ABC and Disney+, and they will also be available the next day on Hulu. Deadline noted this is the first show that will air on both ABC and the streaming platform Disney+ at the same time.
In addition, “Dancing with the Stars” has been moved to Tuesday nights for season 32. The schedule change was announced on September 12, shared Variety. The show is slated to air on Tuesday nights throughout the entire season. The premiere will be two-and-a-half hours long, but beginning with week 2, viewers can expect a standard two-hour episode.
Additional changes include the departure of former host Tyra Banks and the addition of former judge and professional dancer Julianne Hough as a co-host. Alfonso Ribeiro moves into the primary hosting spot, and Deadline noted Hough will report from the skybox.
Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli will be the judges, but Len Goodman will be greatly missed after his retirement and subsequent death. Long-time professional dancers Cheryl Burke, Mark Ballas, Sharna Burgess, Lindsay Arnold, and Witney Carson will not be a part of the “Dancing with the Stars” season 32 cast. However, Arnold’s younger sister, Rylee Arnold, was announced as a new show pro during the September 13 “Good Morning America” cast reveal.
The Writers Guild Strike Threatened the DWTS Premiere Date
For a while, the debut of “Dancing with the Stars” season 32 seemed it might have to move out a bit. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike, and contestant Matt Walsh stepped away from the show on September 21 due to the WGA protesting the show.
On September 25, a tentative deal that would end the WGA strike emerged, reported ET Online. That means “Dancing with the Stars” can debut as scheduled, although that seemed uncertain last week. ET Online detailed, “ABC confirmed on Monday that the ballroom competition will premiere as originally scheduled on Tuesday, Sept. 26.”
While there is still a strike involving the Screen Actors Guild, that is not a problem for “Dancing with the Stars” and its cast members. As ET Online shared, a statement from SAG-AFTRA detailed that DWTS is categorized as a “non-dramatic production under a separate agreement that is not subject to the union’s strike order.”
With the WGA tentative agreement in place, Walsh is returning to dance with partner Koko Iwasaki. His representative told Entertainment Weekly, “With the hopeful resolution and vote with the [Writers Guild of America], ‘Dancing with the Stars’ would no longer be a struck show therefore all cast would be able to return. This includes WGA member Matt Walsh.”
Now that the various obstacles regarding scheduling and casting have been resolved, ABC is full-steam ahead to debut season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars” on Tuesday, September 26, with the series remaining on Tuesday nights throughout the full season.
