Who Will Win ‘Dancing With the Stars’ 2026? Our Power Rankings So Far
Now that Week 1 of Dancing With the Stars Season 35 is out of the way, we have a better idea of what the stars are bringing to the ballroom this year. Following last week’s double elimination, 14 contestants are left, and we’re ready to make our initial predictions about how well they’ll do on the show.
Based on feedback from the judges and what we’ve observed about the contestants’ popularity online so far, we’re ranking the celebs based on who’s most likely to least likely to win.
Of course, anything can change after Week 1. Now that the nerves are out of the way, anybody else could come out of the gate and impress viewers enough to start nabbing more votes. There’s also the fear of peaking too early, which could come back to haunt some of the premiere week frontrunners.
Scroll down to see our power rankings so far, and check back every week as we update with new predictions based on the latest performances.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC
1. Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas
Maura Higgins was the unexpected standout of Week 1, topping the leaderboard compared to all the other women who performed on Night 2 of the premiere.
Of course, it’s likely too early to tell how Higgins will fare overall, especially since we still don’t know what she’ll bring to the floor with a Latin routine.
However, her likable personality and willingness to put in the work have already won over viewers who may not have been familiar with her reality television career, so she’s off to a great start.
If she continues to improve her dancing each week, she’ll be the perfect representation of what DWTS is all about: taking somebody who has no clue how to dance and making them into a ballroom star!
2. Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson
Not only is Harry Shum Jr. a talented dancer (he received the highest score on Night 1 against the other men), but he has a massive army of fan support from his roles on Glee and Grey’s Anatomy.
While his past dance experience has been a bit off-putting to some viewers, he received an overwhelmingly positive response post-premiere, so it’s looking like he has a shot to make that finale
3. Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa
Julia Stiles reminded SO many people why they love her during premiere week. While she hasn’t been in the spotlight in a major way for years, she’s really putting in the work to get some new fans on social media, and her first dance made it clear that she certainly has potential.
4. Jenna Dewan & Val Chmerkovskiy
There’s no denying that Jenna Dewan is an extremely talented dancer, but the discourse surrounding her past dance experience as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson will likely weigh heavy when it comes time for viewers to cast their votes.
Even if she continues to score at the top of the leaderboard, Dewan may be in danger of getting eliminated sooner than expected because of her controversial casting, similar to what we saw with Heather Morris and Sabrina Bryan.
5. Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach
Even if Ezra Frech doesn’t prove to be the best technical dancer in the competition, his inspiring story and perseverance will surely win over the hearts of so many viewers.
Dancing after undergoing an above-the-knee leg amputation surely won’t be easy, but Daniella Karagach already proved during the premiere that she’s figuring out ways to set Frech up for success, despite his disability.
Plus, Karagach is a fan-favorite pro who usually has success on the show, so this pairing is top-notch.
6. Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov
Olympians tend to do well on this show, and that is already seeming to be the case for Amber Glenn. She gave a great initial performance during the premiere and proved that she’s willing to put in the work to be the best she can be.
7. Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold
Connor Wood certainly showed potential with his Week 1 performance, and with Rylee Arnold as his partner, they certainly have a large online fanbase supporting them. What he’ll have to continue to do to be successful, though, is win over the viewers who may not know him from his online presence.
8. Ciara Miller & Brandon Armstrong
Ciara Miller was admittedly a ball of nerves during the premiere, and it showed during her dance, so she’ll have to work on shaking that off moving forward.
Regardless of her dance skills, though, it’s clear that Miller has a massive army of fans rooting for her following the Summer House scandal earlier this year, so she’ll likely be safe for at least a few weeks.
9. Taylor Hanson & Britt Stewart
Taylor Hanson probably has the millennial vote locked in, but he’ll have to continue to show improvement in his dancing and make sure to win over the younger viewers who may not be familiar with him.
10. Jackson Olson & Emma Slater
Jackson Olson has to keep refining his dance skills and not only rely on his showmanship to improve moving forward, but his premiere routine was definitely a solid start.
11. Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess
Tyler Cameron’s first dance was solid and he for sure has potential, but is his peak star power behind him? It’s been years since he was on The Bachelorette, and his pro partner hasn’t been on DWTS in several years, which could lead to them being forgotten if they don’t pull out all the stops for their weekly numbers.
12. Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik
Tatyana Ali struggled with her Week 1 dance and she had a lot of mistakes, but the parts that were good definitely showed potential. Ali needs to show some big improvement in Week 2, but she’ll undoubtedly have a lot of Fresh Prince fans voting for her either way.
13. Guillermo Rodriguez & Witney Carson
Guillermo Rodriguez had the lowest Week 1 scores, but many have already dubbed him the “Andy Richter” of Season 35 (Richter came in seventh place on Season 34, despite weeks at the bottom of the leaderboard). Don’t be surprised if Rodriguez is voted through for a few more dances!
14. Giada De Laurentiis & Alan Bersten
Giada De Laurentiis seems to be quite polarizing to a lot of Dancing With the Stars fans, and with an injury plaguing her since before the premiere, it’s going to be tough for her to make it through another week.
Don’t Miss All the Twists and Turns!
Get absolutely everything about Dancing With the Stars in your inbox!
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services