Overview

• The season premiered live Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming on Hulu.
• No guest judge filled in, so Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough alone scored performances on a 20-point scale.
• Robert Irwin with Witney Carson and Whitney Leavitt with Mark Ballas topped the leaderboard, tying at 15/20.
• No couples were eliminated; the first cuts will be a double ouster next week using combined Weeks 1–2 judges’ scores and real-time votes.
• Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough returned as hosts, a 14-celebrity cast debuted, and pairs are competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy in the show's 20th-anniversary season.