The upcoming 32nd season of Dancing with the Stars will look different when it returns to ABC in the fall of 2023. While Alfonso Ribeiro will be returning to the ballroom as a host, his season 31 co-host Tyra Banks will no longer be a part of DWTS as she announced her exit in March 2023. The three-season host told TMZ that she wanted to step away from the ABC show to focus on her business and on producing new TV shows.
“I always believe that change is never easy,” Dancing with the Stars pro Britt Stewart told US Weekly about the hosting changes in the upcoming season. “But [I’m] grateful that Tyra was part of our family for three seasons. Once you’re part of the Dancing with the Stars family, you never truly really leave.” However, the dancer had nothing but praise for Banks’ replacement, who was announced to be Julianne Hough. “She’s part of the family, so I think she will bring in some fresh and lovely energy,” Stewart shared.
Stewart said she was “grateful” for Banks’ time hosting the show but couldn’t deny the “exciting” return to the ballroom of Hough, who last competed on the show in season 8. Hough’s excitement was clear in her statement to Variety back in March 2023 when she was announced as Banks’ replacement. “It is such an honor to be rejoining Dancing with the Stars as co-host,” she said. “The energy is magnetic every time you step foot into the ballroom and I can’t wait to feel it again.”
Another big change will be the absence of longtime judge Len Goodman. Goodman announced his retirement at the end of season 31, then on April 22, 2023, Goodman died following a battle with bone cancer. “Len was there since the beginning,” Stewart shared with US Weekly during the same interview. “It will be different and he will be in all of our hearts throughout the season.”
A week before Goodman’s death, in April 2023, Hough’s brother, DWTS judge Derek Hough confirmed to US Weekly that they wouldn’t be replacing Goodman and would continue on with three judges: himself, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli. “I think this is gonna be it,” he shared. “I think [they are] kind of realizing that three is the right amount.”
In terms of the cast, only one star has been announced so far: Vanderpump Rules cast member Ariana Madix. Stewart gushed to US that the DWTS family was “thrilled” about Madix’s inclusion on the show and said, “I hear the best things about her. [I’m] looking forward to next season… We have a lot to live up to from last season.” On a personal level, it would be hard for Stewart to top season 31, as she met her now-boyfriend in the last season of DWTS.
Stewart was paired with actor Daniel Durant and fans quickly saw the duo’s chemistry in training and in the ballroom. They made it far in the competition and despite getting eliminated in the semifinals, their relationship blossomed and they debuted their relationship to the public on Valentine’s Day in 2023. In Aug. 2023, Stewart told US Weekly that she “hopes” Durant is her “forever dance partner.” She spilled, “Honestly, just life with Daniel is the most enjoyable thing. I know that he would say the same thing.”