Conner Leavitt became the first celebrity eliminated on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars after a voting system crash forced ABC to discard online votes. Meanwhile, Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. dominated Tuesday night’s premiere leaderboard with a score of 21, kicking off a two-night season launch.
Dancing With the Stars returned for its 35th season with a high-stakes two-night premiere that immediately collided with technical difficulties and an early exit. While the ballroom welcomed a fresh slate of celebrities ranging from reality stars to Olympic athletes, the opening week proved that a glittering dance floor offers no immunity to digital glitches or unforgiving judges.
Technical Glitches and the Season’s First Elimination
The competition turned abruptly for Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Conner Leavitt and professional partner Adele Zaikman during the opening broadcast. The pair performed a salsa to Tag Team’s Whoomp! (There It Is),
drawing universal 4s from the judges for a total score of 12 out of 30.
The routine left the couple at the bottom of the Tuesday night leaderboard alongside comedian Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson, who scored 10 points. When combined with viewer tallies, Leavitt and Zaikman fell short and became the first casualties of the season.
Zaikman, who joined the professional lineup after winning the inaugural season of the spinoff show Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, expressed gratitude for the opportunity despite the rapid exit.
“It’s a dream come true no matter what, and I’m so lucky that I had Conner. I had so much fun, and thank you so much for everything.”
Adele Zaikman, professional dancer via Yahoo
The elimination arrived amidst significant backend drama when the show’s online voting system crashed during the live broadcast. Julianne Hough initially directed viewers to cast votes by text message, while Alfonso Ribeiro later announced that all online votes submitted via the network’s website would be entirely discarded for the night, leaving text-message tallies to carry the weight of the elimination.
Harry Shum Jr. and the Men’s Night Standouts
Before the voting turmoil settled, the male celebrities established a competitive baseline on Tuesday night. Former professional background dancer and Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. seized the early momentum alongside partner Jenna Johnson.
The pair delivered a cha-cha to Earth, Wind & Fire’s Let’s Groove
that earned three 7s from the judges, securing a combined score of 21 points that put Shum at the top of the leaderboard.
Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach stayed close behind with 20 points for a tango set to Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone,
while The Bachelorette’s Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess collected 17 points for their tango to Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way.
The Women Take the Ballroom for Night Two
The two-night premiere continued as the female celebrities made their performance debuts, shaking up the leaderboard and bringing a fresh wave of routines to the Los Angeles ballroom. Olympian Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov set an early high mark for the second night with 18 points for a cha-cha, while Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa matched that score with a quickstep to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5
.
However, reality star Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas ultimately matched the highest score of the entire premiere week, earning a 21 out of 30 with a foxtrot that pushed them to the top of the women’s standings.
