“Dancing With The Stars” 20th Birthday Party Theme Night Details Announced

Disney has announced details on the next episode of its hit competition series, “Dancing With The Stars”, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with a themed “20th Birthday Party” night.

“Dancing with the Stars” is the hit series cohosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough in which celebrities are paired with trained ballroom dancers to compete in themed choreographed dance routines that are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts, including Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough.  In this episode, former host Tom Bergeron will be making a return to the ballroom as a guest judge. 

Get ready for a party-packed opening number. Choreographed by Derek Hough and set to a reimagined live version of the “Dancing with the Stars Theme” by Ray Chew, the number brings together our current pros and troupe, plus six original pros from Season 1: Alec Mazo, Ashly DelGrosso, Louis van Amstel, Jonathan Roberts, Charlotte Jorgensen and Edyta Śliwińska. Then, the show honours the beloved “DWTS” performers we’ve lost over the years with a moving performance to “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga, choreographed and performed by Ezra Sosa and Rylee Arnold.

In the first round, each couple will showcase a new style to a song inspired by an iconic freestyle performance from past seasons. Later in the evening, the Relay Dance competition returns. In this challenge, one couple performs the first half of a song, followed by a second couple who completes the second half. The judges then decide the winner of each relay, with the victorious couples of each relay earning two bonus points apiece.

The relay round adds an exciting twist: For the first time ever, celebrities will dance without their professional partners, instead joining forces with a returning Mirrorball champion to perform a Quickstep, Viennese Waltz or Jive. As a result of their top scores in the individual dance round from the previous week (and their cumulative judges’ totals all season), Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas have received immunity and will not have to participate in the relay dances. They will automatically receive two bonus points as part of their immunity.

The couples (along with their dance styles and songs) are the following:

• Social media personality Alix Earle and partner Val Chmerkovskiy will perform a Foxtrot to “Singin’ in the Rain” by Matthew Morrison.
• Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and partner Witney Carson will perform a Foxtrot to “Footprints in the Sand” by Leona Lewis.
• From “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Whitney Leavitt and partner Mark Ballas will perform an Argentine Tango to “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago The Musical.”
• Reality TV star and content creator Dylan Efron and partner Daniella Karagach will perform an Argentine Tango to “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers.
• Comedian Andy Richter and partner Emma Slater will perform a Quickstep to “Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Robbie Williams.
• Film and TV actress Elaine Hendrix and partner Alan Bersten will perform a Salsa to “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock.
• Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles and partner Ezra Sosa will perform a Cha Cha to “Get Up” by Ciara featuring Chamillionaire.

After each episode, go behind the curtain with the “‘Dancing with the Stars’ Official Podcast.” Hosted by Season 33 Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy champion Joey Graziadei, the show brings exclusive cast interviews, special guests, behind-the-scenes insights and expert breakdowns of the performances people can’t stop discussing. Tune in Thursdays on Disney+ and Hulu.

Fans will be able to vote during the live simulcast of the show in the ET/CT time zones. During this time, online voting will be available to fans in any time zone in the U.S., its territories and Canada via dwtsvote.abc.com, and fans on participating U.S. wireless carriers can also vote via SMS/text (fans in Canada cannot vote via SMS/text). Live viewer votes from the night will be combined with the judges’ scores and bonus points to determine which couples will escape elimination and dance in next week’s “Prince Night” semi-finals.

“20th Birthday Party” premieres on Tuesday, 11th November 2025 at 8:00-10:01 p.m. EST/PST, 7:00-9:01 p.m. CST, and it will be simulcast live across both ABC and Disney+ in local time zones in the United States and Canada.  The episode will also be available the next day on Hulu.  Recent episodes of “Dancing With The Stars” are available to stream now on Disney+ and Hulu.

Are you looking forward to celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Dancing With The Stars”?  Let me know on social media!