DWTS Shifts Disney Night to Monday for Election Coverage
By @sharedot · · 8 pages
- Television
- Dancing With The Stars
DWTS aired its Season 35 Disney Night on Monday, Nov. 2, ceding its usual Tuesday slot to ABC's midterm election coverage for one week.
The Ballroom Moved for One Night Only
Eastern/7 p.m. Central.
The one-week shift, reported by Closer Weekly, AOL's For The Win and TV Insider, was forced by ABC's planned continuous midterm election coverage on Tuesday, November 3.
The show posted several reminders on Instagram hoping fans would not miss the move, and the schedule returns to Tuesdays the following week.
Why a Monday Return Is a Full-Circle Move
Daily Express US notes the shift carries history. Seasons 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31 aired solely on Monday nights — Season 31 exclusively on streaming — before the show settled into Tuesdays in 2023.
In 2024, Season 33 skipped a week entirely for presidential election coverage, and back when the show ran a live competition episode on Mondays with a results show on Tuesdays, it skipped the results show on election nights, last doing so in Season 15.
This year marks a simpler accommodation: move the episode, keep the season moving.
What the Eight Couples Dance on Disney Night
All remaining couples performed to songs from Disney Broadway shows. Per the running order Closer Weekly cites from a screenshot shared on X: Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov quickstepped to 'A Star Is Born' from Hercules; Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas jived to Peter Pan's 'You Can Fly!
You Can Fly!
You Can Fly!'; Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik did contemporary to Aida's 'Easy As Live'; Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson danced jazz to 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from Mary Poppins; Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach sambaed to 'Under the Sea' from The Little Mermaid; Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa did a paso doble to Hamilton's 'Satisfied'; Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy quickstepped to 'Be Our Guest' from Beauty and the Beast; and Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold closed with a waltz to Tangled's 'I See the Light.'
First Team Face-Off of the Season
The episode brought the first team dance face-off of Season 35. Team Slaytopia — Tatyana Ali, Amber Glenn, Maura Higgins and Julia Stiles with their partners — danced to 'Zoo' from Zootopia 2, which Daily Express US identifies as Team Alfonso with Alfonso Ribeiro.
Team Wildcats — Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, Harry Shum Jr. and Connor Wood with their partners — performed the High School Musical anthem 'We're All in This Together,' with Julianne Hough joining per the Daily Express US report.
Cynthia Erivo, the Wicked and Broadway star, served as guest judge, and the night ended with another elimination.
A Pro Sits Out Sick, Eliminated Couples Keep Dancing
TV Insider reports that pro dancer Adele Zaikman announced on her Instagram Story that she was too unwell to appear in Monday's opening number.
'I'm sadly feeling unwell and won't be performing in the opening number on Dancing With the Stars tomorrow,' she wrote, adding she would be 'cheering you on from home.'
Zaikman, a first-season pro who came to the show as the winner of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, was eliminated with partner Conner Leavitt in week one, but eliminated pros still appear weekly in opening numbers and as troupe dancers.
Per TV Insider, she and Leavitt will return for the November 24 finale.
Stakes and What Comes Next
With eight couples down and a double elimination last week sending home Jackson Olson of the Savannah Bananas and Tyler Cameron, per AOL's For The Win, the Disney Night cut tightened the field further as the season marches toward its finale.
Fans can vote at dwtsvote.abc.com or by texting their chosen celebrity's first name to 21523, according to Closer Weekly.
The schedule returns to its usual Tuesday slot next week, with the Season 35 finale set for Tuesday, November 24 — and TV Insider reports BBC Studios is exploring a second season of The Next Pro in Los Angeles after launching the format with Zaikman this year.
Sources
- yahoo.com › 'Dancing With the Stars' Schedule Shift: ABC Makes Major Change for 'Disney Night' This Week
- aol.com › 'DWTS' Disney Night: What each couple will dance to Monday night
- closerweekly.com › 'Dancing With the Stars' Schedule Shift: ABC Makes Major Change for 'Disney Night' This Week
- the-express.com › Dancing With the Stars is changing up its schedule on Disney Night
- tvinsider.com › 'DWTS' Pro Announces She's Missing Disney Night