Dancing With The Stars' Emma Slater Has Responded To Those Exit Rumors: 'Looking At Me Like She’s The Old Girl'

Even though Dancing With the Stars Season 35 won’t be coming until later this year on the 2026 TV schedule, fans are continuing to speculate as to who will be competing in the ballroom for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Theories are including both celebrity contestants and pros, as viewers wonder who will be returning and who won’t be, especially now that DWTS is developing a new reality show to find the next pro. Rumors are floating around surrounding potential exits, and Emma Slater is responding.

Slater joined the reality dancing competition for Season 14 in 2012 as a troupe dancer before being promoted to pro for Season 17. She’s gone on to be a fan-favorite, winning Season 24 with former NFL player Rashad Jennings. While it’s unknown who will be returning in the fall, and pros usually don’t know until right before rehearsals start, Slater told her Season 34 partner Andy Richter how long she wants to keep doing the show for, while guesting on his podcast The Three Questions with Andy Richter. As she put it:

Considering Slater has 14 years of Dancing With the Stars under her belt, it’s a relief to know that she has no plans to step away. Of course, that’s only if the producers still like her as well, since it’s never a guarantee a pro will be back the next season, which is frustrating.

Slater remains a fan-favorite, and her partnership with Richter last season was arguably one of the best parts of the show. Not to mention the fact that she and fellow pro Alan Bersten have really cemented their romance. But for the time being, Slater is just going to go with the flow for as long as she can:

That’s the thing that sucks about doing a show like Dancing With the Stars. No matter how much you enjoy it, it’s always possible your last season is going to be your last. It sounds like Slater doesn’t seem too worried, at least for now, and doesn’t have any plans to walk away herself. We won’t know for sure which pros are returning until likely the fall, so it’s just a waiting game. At the very least, Slater knows what she’d want to do if producers decide they don’t want her back on the ballroom:

With the new DWTS spinoff about finding the next pro, it’s hard to predict what this means for the current pros, especially if the show sticks around for future seasons. Fans should be at least somewhat relieved knowing that, for now, Emma Slater isn’t going anywhere and that the rumors of her leaving or retiring are not true. Now we just have to wait and see if she’s truly coming back for Season 35.