DWTS Greenlights Pro Search Spinoff Ahead of Season 35

ABC is supersizing the ballroom: Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro arrives this summer, as 12 rising dancers battle for a coveted slot as the franchise’s next pro.

DWTS is going full summer camp. ABC is dropping a new spinoff that turns finding the next pro dancer into an entire show. Yes, they built a whole series just to hire one person — and honestly, I get it.

So, what is 'Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro'?

Announced Wednesday, April 22, the spinoff brings 12 up-and-coming dancers into one house and puts them through a nonstop audition gauntlet. The prize: a full-on promotion to the main show as a pro for season 35. It is very much the DWTS version of a talent draft, only shinier and with better spray tans.

Who is running the room

Reigning champ Robert Irwin (22) is hosting. He just won season 34 with Witney Carson, and now he is back to help decide who gets a shot at that pro paycheck. The judges are a family affair: mirrorball-winning pro Mark Ballas (39) and his mother, Shirley Ballas (65) — known as the 'Queen of Latin' and the current head judge on the BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing' in the UK. They will rotate in guest judges and mentors too, many of whom are already DWTS pros.

'For the first time in Dancing with the Stars history, the greatest dancers will compete for a spot as the next pro. This summer, let the fiercest dance battle begin.'

Irwin's victory lap (and the freestyle that bit back)

Irwin says the season 34 freestyle with Carson was their big thank-you to everyone riding along — and they were so amped he did not realize he got hurt until after the dance. Adrenaline beat pain, and he still calls the show one of the best things he has ever done, khakis and all. He talked about it on Good Morning America in November 2025, which is a weird timestamp if you are tracking season 34 on a calendar, but that is how ABC is framing it here.

Carson, now a two-time winner (the first was back in season 19 with Alfonso Ribeiro, who now hosts), said this one hit different — life, kids, husband, the whole thing. Context matters when you are hoisting a mirrorball.

The state of the ballroom

• Premiere: Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC; streams next day on Hulu
• Format: 12 dancers live together and battle through a high-pressure audition process
• Host: Robert Irwin (season 34 champ)
• Judges: Mark Ballas and Shirley Ballas, with rotating guest judges/mentors (including current DWTS pros)
• The job: Winner becomes a pro on DWTS season 35
• Season 35 is a go: ABC also confirmed the main show returns with celeb contestants Ciara Miller and Maura Higgins already on board
• Season 34 snapshot: Pros included Mark Ballas, Val Chmerkovskiy, Pasha Pashkov, Brandon Armstrong, Emma Slater, Jenna Johnson, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Rylee Arnold, Ezra Sosa, Gleb Savchenko and Jan Ravnik (who made his ballroom debut)

Bottom line

DWTS is expanding its universe and letting the audition process be the show. If you like the pros as much as the celebrities — and based on how often they end up stealing the spotlight, you probably do — this is basically catnip.