Summer is getting closer, which means in just a matter of months Dancing With the Stars will be returning on the 2026 TV schedule this fall. ABC has already begun revealing celebrity contestants for Season 35, and both the fans and pros are continuing to share their dream contestants. Two-time Mirrorball champ Witney Carson revealed her dream partner, and I absolutely need it.
When it comes to DWTS, you truly have no idea who could be competing in the ballroom. Contestants range from influencers to musicians to athletes to actors to even politicians. Some you wouldn’t guess in a million years, and others who have been on lists for a while. Carson, who won Season 34 with Robert Irwin last year, told People that while she still doesn’t know the full cast list for Season 35, Tom Holland certainly has her eye:
I mean, just putting that out there. Have you seen him dance? He's good. He's really good. I think he's a little busy, but you know.
I would love it if he were to be on Dancing With the Stars, and I don’t care how impossible it is. Of course, Carson knows that Holland is a bit busy and is probably a bit too popular for a show like DWTS, but you never know. And no matter how “out there” the dream is, Carson is sticking to her senses and is appealing for Holland to compete for a number of reasons:
If I had a dream partner, honestly, I'm gonna stick with Tom Holland because he seems really sweet. He seems like he's in a good solid relationship [with Zendaya], which is very important to do a show like this. He would just be really fun and a really cool guy. So that would actually be great. Let's manifest it. Why not? Tom, if you're bored, come on over.
If Holland were to ever compete on Dancing With the Stars, it could actually be pretty great... and not just because he’d be on the show. His rumored wife Zendaya competed on the show during her Disney days in Season 16 with Val Chmerkovskiy as her partner, and the two were the runners-up. To this day, many are upset about the loss, myself included. So perhaps if Holland appeared, Zendaya could also get some kind of redemption in whatever capacity that is.
As Carson shared, Holland is a pretty busy guy, and he’s going to have a jam-packed summer. He’s starring in Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated and star-studded film The Odyssey, as well as Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Both upcoming 2026 films are set to release in July, just weeks apart. According to his IMDb, he has four other projects in the works. That includes an untitled Fred Astaire biopic in which he portrays the late actor, dancer, musician, and choreographer. So if anything, he’ll still be showing off his dancing skills in the biopic, which should be pretty entertaining.
When it comes to DWTS, there are always going to be dream contestants that are definitely not going to be on the show because they’re just too big or just too busy or both, but that’s what’s fun about it. There’s no harm in having dream contestants, regardless of the possibility of them actually being on the show, and Carson is just doubling down on her dream. The full cast list for Season 35 won’t be announced until later this summer, but fans can catch up on the latest seasons with a Disney+ subscription.
