It’s finally Dancing with the Stars premiere week on the 2026 TV schedule, and the competition is as stiff as ever for Season 35. The couples are in the thick of rehearsals ahead of the two-night premiere and, even with the amount of TikToks many of them have been posting, they’re all hard at work. While stars typically lose weight on DWTS with all that training, that's not always the case. I'm surprised to learn that one current contestant has actually gained weight.
Training for a show like DWTS is not easy, given all of the hours of rehearsals and the injuries that might come with it. Summer House alum Ciara Miller, who is partnered with Brandon Armstrong, revealed to Lance Bass and E! News that rehearsals have been crazy and not at all that pleasant. Even though Bass, who competed during Season 7, shared he “lost 20 pounds” while on the show, the same cannot be said for Miller, at least for now:
I pray for my ankles every single day. But I’m definitely getting my butt kicked a little like I haven’t worked out this much since high school. I’ve gained weight.
Miller did say that she had been bulking up since rehearsals began, but it’s still surprising to hear that she’s been gaining instead of losing weight. However, the season hasn’t even fully started yet, so it’s quite possible that she’ll shed some pounds the longer she and her partner stay in. If anything, it sounds like Armstrong has not been going easy on her, and I cannot wait to see how all that work translates to their performance in the premiere.
Over the years, like Miller, plenty of contestants have spoken about their weight in relation to the training and competition. For instance, like Bass, Alyson Hannigan lost 20 pounds while competing on the show during Season 32. It was both emotional and physical baggage, but it was still pretty impressive. Plenty of other celebrities have lost a lot of weight on the show and, when I think about it, competing on the show, seems like a good way for someone to stay trim.
It’s no secret that rehearsing for Dancing with the Stars can be intense. Across the seasons, many competitors have gotten hurt at one point, with some of those injuries being minor and others being more serious. Last season, Andy Richter didn’t hold back on the training, admitting he had to ice his knees every hour. He also stated that it wasn’t “just exercise, it was borderline abuse.” He was still a fan-favorite with Emma Slater, and the pair made it far. So I applaud him for sticking to it because it does not sound easy.
With the DWTS season finally around the corner, I'm excited to see what Ciara Miller does. I'm also curious as to whether she'll eventually provide a training update and say that she's lost weight. The two-night Season 35 premiere of Dancing with the Stars airs on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams with a Disney+ subscription.
