Tonight on ABC we have DWTS our favorite reality TV show returning to the ballroom when Dancing With The Stars season 34 episode 1 premiere airs. We have your all-new Tuesday, September 16, 2025, season 34 episode 1 Dancing With The Stars recap below!
On tonight’s DWTS finale episode, as per the ABC synopsis, “Dancing with the Stars returns for its 20th anniversary. Cohosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, with judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough, the ballroom welcomes 14 new celebrities for their first live performance.”
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Tonight on Dancing With The Stars, an all new season began with a dance. They opened the show with a number choregraphed by Ray Leeper. He remains legendary for a reason. The judges even got to dance some and unfortunately Carrie Ann couldn’t be there tonight.
She was feeling under the weather. She will be back next episode. She will have plenty of time then to see the stars for herself. There were reality stars, sports stars, tv stars, singing stars, social media stars, and Hollywood stars. Up first was gymnast Jordan Chiles.
Jordan was dancing with Ezra Sosa this season. Some of her teammates have done the show. They’ve been successful and she was hoping for the same. She danced the Salsa tonight. Ezra wanted it to be the song that defines her. Tonight was all about anthems. She in turn chose “You Won’t Break My Soul” by Beyonce. They put in several Beyonce references in the dance itself. It just didn’t look like a typical salsa. It looked like with merged with several other dances and so Derek called the pair out on it. He still enjoyed the dance. The same for Bruno. Bruno just felt it needed a few cleans ups.
Derek gave them a five. Bruno gave them a five. Giving them a ten out of twenty. They both love Beyonce and this dance. They simple could have saved it for another time. Next up was Dylan Efron. He was a content creator and was the younger brother of Zac Efron. Zac was his older brother. It was hard growing up in his brother’s shadow because he was Zac. He was charismatic. He was a great dancer. He was a great guy in general. Dylan chose to deal with it by not trying to compete. He created his own path to stardom.
Dylan still struggles with attention. It’s one thing to post on social media or star in “The Traitors”. It was quite another to be vulnerable enough to allow people see him dancing. He usually left dancing to his brother. Dylan was dancing with Daniella Karagach. They were given Cha Cha. He chose his as his anthem, “Milkshake”. It was more to akin to the actual dance. It’s just that Dylan kept going on and off. Bruno later told him that he lacked consistency. He had it and then he kept losing it. Derek felt the same. They gave him both fives. He got ten out of twenty.
Next up was Elaine Hendrix. She was a tv and film movie star. She was best known for the “Parent Trap” that convinced many that Lindsay Lohan was a twin when she wasn’t. She’s also recently been seen in “Dynasty”. With both being now available to stream. Elaine started out as a dancer. She’s never done ballroom and she ended up giving up dancing after she got hit by a car over thirty years ago. She was returning to it to see if she still got it. It was fun watching her dance with her partner this season, Alan Bersten.
They danced the Cha Cha tonight. Their dance was livelier. They performed to “Woman” by Ke$ha. Although there were some concerns. Elaine needed to extend her arms. Bruno warned her about that and Derek warned her about bunching her shoulders. Other than that, she did really well for her first dance in so long. They both gave her sixes. She had a score of twelve out of twenty. Next up was Whitney Leavitt. She was a reality tv star. She stars in “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” with another cast member from this season.
Whitney was known as the villain on her show. So, of course she was going to openly compete against her friend. She was dancing with Mark Ballas this season. They danced the Tango tonight. It was a great dance for them. They performed the Tango to “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack. Their dance was the best so far. The judges loved it. They also had some technical glitches. They put in the numbers and then they raise the paddle with the number on it only Bruno’s two numbers didn’t match. The show went with what he entered into the system.
Thus Whitney and Mark got a high score of fifteen out of twenty. Derek gave them a seven. Bruno gave them an eight. They were the ones to beat. Next up was Baron Davis. He’s a NBA athlete who’s won All-Star twice. He was dancing with Britt Stewart this season. His anthem was “Can’t Touch This”. He was another fun one and he and Britt had a great time with their Cha Cha. They might have had too much fun with the iconic dance that goes with the song because it wasn’t Cha Cha. It was Hammer time.
Baron still had eyes on him because he has such a presence. It wasn’t just his height. It was him as a person as well. His dance on the other hand had room for improvement. He was give two fives by the judges. He has a ten out of twenty. Next up was Alix Earle. She was a social media personality. She tried making dance videos on TikTok and sadly it didn’t get her any views. She moved on to other things that sold better. She’s now since starred in a Superbowl commercial and has a cameo in a movie.
Alix was partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy thris season. She went Britney for her anthem song. She chose “Circus”. Someone even gave her a whip to open her Cha Cha with. She and Val were amazing together. There were the usual issues like toes on the floor or the extension of the arm. Derek enjoyed it a little more than Bruno did. Derek gave them a seven and Bruno gave them a six. Bruno was equally as harsh with the next dancing duo. Next up was Scott Hoying. He was a singer. He was best known as one of the singers in the Grammy award winning group known as Pentatonix.
Scott was dancing with Rylee Arnold this season. When asked about his anthem, he didn’t choose one of his own songs. He ended up choosing his wedding song. It was “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga. He and his husband posted them dancing to the song online. Lady Gaga saw it and she left a great comment. It rocked the guys’ world. Scott chose the song again in the hopes it would continue to bring him luck. They had the Tango. Again, it didn’t look like the Tango. It lacked the fundamentals of a real Tango.
Both judges felt that way. They both gave him fives. Next up was Danielle Fishel. She’s a tv actress. She was best known for “Boys Meet World” and the spinoff “Girl Meet World” for the younger generation. She’s not much of a dancer, but she has been performing for over thirty years. She believes that gives her a leg up on the younger cast members. She was also reassured she was in safe hands when she found out she was dancing with Pasha Pashkov. She’s heard great things about him from the others he danced with.
They performed the Tango to “What Does Kill You Makes Stronger”. The dance was good. She just needed to lower her shoulders. It was the same as Elaine. They needed to lower the shoulders. The judges warned her about it. She got two sixes from the judges. Bruno injured himself. Derek was voting because Danielle said all those that had a crush on her growing up needed to vote her. She’ll take her votes wherever she can. Next up was Jen Affleck. She was the other reality star from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”.
Jen has three kids under three. She just has her most recent child eight weeks ago. She joked that her pelvic floor might not be ready to dance and that she was giving it a shot anyway. Jen was paired with a newbie this season. Jan Ravnik just came off of the Era tour with Taylor Swift. He was also a ballroom champion. He and Jenn had the Salsa tonight. It gave Jen the desire to explore her Latina heritage. She chose Bad Bunny’s “NUEVAYoL” as her anthem. They had plenty of lifts. They just lacked the dancing aspect.
The judges told them the lifts actually got in the way of the great parts. Jen was doing well if the lifts didn’t stop and start her. Jenn was in so much pain by the way after that dance. Jen and Jan got two sixes from the judges. They have a score of twelve out of twenty. Now, next up was a controversial star. Corey Feldman has done it all and its been a while since he danced professionally. It was also rumored that Corey disappeared on his dancing partner for a few days. He didn’t give an explanation on the show or even social media. He just disappeared on Jenna Johnson.
Corey lacked technique. His Tango wasn’t great. Which hurts because Corey was a big part of a millennial’s childhood. He received a five and four. He has a score of nine out of twenty. Thanks mostly to his partner. Next up was a member of Fifth Harmony. Lauren Jauregui was the third member of the group to do the show. The singer was glad for people to get to know her as own her person outside of the others and she did that with her Tango. She was partnered with Brandon Armstrong this season.
They received a standing ovation at the end of that performance. If there was any critique, it was the last move. It lacked the fluidity she had shown with everything else. She and Brandon received a seven from Derek. A six from Bruno. They have thirteen out of twenty and were high up on the board. Next up was Andy Richter. He was a comedian. He known as Conan O’Brien’s sidekick for about three decades. He even did some acting as well and wasn’t afraid to look like silly on tv. His words.
Andy was partnered with Emma Slater this season. They performed the Cha Cha. Andy said knew what would take the dance upwards and that’s his ability to sell it. He chose “Hold On, I’m Coming” as his anthem. He was the oldest one there. He went out and had fun. Too much fun by the way he was spanking his rearend over and over. Andy and Emma received a five from Derek and a four from Bruno who didn’t think he sold it as well as he thought. He was now on the bottom of the board. No one will be going home this week, but next week has to be better.
Next up was Hilaria Baldwin. She was a wellness influencer. She was also married to actor, Alec Baldwin of the Baldwin family. Hilaria used to dance. She stopped because she broke her hip all the way through from overuse. She hasn’t danced in a long time and so tonight was her return to it. The mother of seven was quick on her feet. She was partnered with Gleb Savchenko. She liked how direct he was. Their Cha Cha was one of the best of the night. They eventually scored an even fourteen because both judges gave them a seven thanks to their “Let’s Get Loud” performance.
And then there was the last dance from Robert Irwin. The Australian Wildlife Conservationist. He was paired with Whitney Carson. He could deal with wild creatures. It’s dancing that scared him. His sister won when she was on the show years ago. Now, it’s his turn. He danced the Jive with Whitney to “Born To Be Wild”. Bruno loved this dance. His flicks were pointed and Bruno always love that. Derek was just so relieved that he filled the big shoes left by Bindi. Robert and Whitney got a score of fifteen out of twenty because Derek gave them an eight. And Bruno gave them a seven. But things get real next week with a double elimination!
THE END!
