New 'Dancing with the Stars' cast opens up ahead of season 35 premiere
Television's biggest ballroom battle is almost here and the new “Dancing with the Stars” cast members are giving fans a sneak peek ahead of the season 35 premiere Tuesday night.
"I'm dying to perform," Paralympian Ezra Frech told "Good Morning America." "Like, I'm just so excited."
"Anticipation is killing me," actress and singer Tatyana Ali said.
Like her fellow competitors, Olympian and figure skater Amber Glenn has been busy getting ready for the spotlight.
"I'm having the time of my life," Glenn said. "It has been so much fun. But for me, I am a singles athlete, I'm out there alone. So the first few rehearsals, it's like, any time [my pro partner Pasha Pashkov would] be there, I was like woah."
Former "The Bachelorette" star and real estate agent Tyler Cameron said it hasn't fully sunken in yet that he's one of the 16 contestants vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
"This is like a pinch me moment all the time," Cameron said. "Like, I just walk around here. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm doing this.'"
Sixteen celebrity stars and their pro partners will hit the ballroom floor for the first time this week and show America what they've been cooking up.
Among them is "Love Thy Nader" star Sarah Jane Nader and her partner Hailey Bills.
"I mean, I think we were immediate best friends," Bills said of her fast connection with Nader.
"There's so many cool things that Hailey is doing with choreography and everything, that no one else can do and we're sort of leaning into it," Nader teased.
For actress Jenna Dewan, it's been "a long time" since she danced competitively.
"I mean, [2006 dance film] 'Step Up' was, even that was towards the end of my dance career, but actually in the studio training, like this has been close to 20 years," Dewan said.
Actress Julia Stiles said she didn't think she could see herself in the ballroom at first. Her pro partner is Ezra Sosa.
"I went from going, 'Oh, thank you so much, but I'm too scared, I'm too scared,' to going, 'I'm scared, I might say yes,'" Stiles recalled. "It just felt like you only live once and why not?”
Season 35 is kicking off with high stakes, featuring not only one, but two eliminations this week. The stars have been giving it their all.
"My legs scream once the dance is done but I'm working on it," Ali said.
“The back of my knees hurt so bad right now," said actor and choreographer Harry Shum Jr. "But also the muscles in my body that I've never used.”
Chef Giada De Laurentiis added, “Well, my toe is ... broken. It's wrapped up and we just dance on it.”
At the end of the day. however, reality star and model Maura Higgins said the advice she's received from pro Mark Ballas is simply to "have fun.”
"Take the dive. Be yourself," Ballas said.
"Yeah, be yourself and just have fun because if you're having fun that will shine," Higgins agreed.
The two-night season 35 premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” airs Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. The episodes will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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