The Traitors star Maura Higgins and Summer House darling Ciara Miller have been announced as the first two cast members to join the 35th season of Dancing With the Stars.
The ballroom competition show, slated to return to ABC later this year, is coming off a milestone season during which 72 million votes were cast in the finale alone. The coveted Mirrorball Trophy was awarded to Robert Irwin and his pro partner Witney Carson.
Higgins, 35, is best known to U.S. audiences from her recent appearance on The Traitors season four, where she made it to the final, but she’s long been known to U.K. viewers from turns on I’m a Celeb and Love Island.
Miller, 30, is currently embroiled in a friendship fallout with Summer House co-star Amanda Batula over her relationship with Miller’s ex-boyfriend, West Wilson. A model and nurse, Miller joined the network’s hit show in 2021 for season five.
In addition to the return of DWTS, a rumored spin-off series was confirmed.
Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro will showcase 12 dancers vying for a chance to join the main series as the next professional to be partnered with a celebrity.
Irwin will host the series, which will be judged by longtime pro dancer Mark Ballas and his mother, Shirley Ballas, of Strictly Come Dancing. The series will premiere July 13 on ABC.
Miller’s casting for season 35 of DWTS comes amid the Summer House scandal that has rocked Bravo. Miller dated Wilson, 31, in a 2023 relationship that played out on the hit Bravo show. Her close friend Batula, 34, announced her separation from her husband of four years — Summer House’s Kyle Cooke — in January. Their relationship has been a main storyline throughout the show’s 10 seasons.
The situation harkens memories of the 2023 “Scandoval” that rocked another hit Bravo show, Vanderpump Rules, when it emerged that longtime cast member Tom Sandoval had been having an affair with his castmate, Rachel Leviss, despite his years-long relationship — and her close friendship — with Ariana Madix.
Madix went on to appear on Dancing With the Stars, finishing in third place on season 32.
Speaking about the similarities between Madix’s and Miller’s situations, Rob Mills, executive vice president of unscripted for Walt Disney TV, told Variety: “There’s an old phrase: The best way to get over a lover is to dance with a stranger. We really thought this was the perfect opportunity for that. We’re really excited.”
