Dancing With the Stars Results, Sept. 16, 2026: Who Went Home on Premiere Night Two and All the Scores
Key takeaways
- Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills went home at the end of premiere night two, on a 14 out of 30 jive.
- Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas topped the night with a 21, the highest score of either premiere evening.
- Fourteen couples are left, and season 35 moves to one night a week starting Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Who went home on night two?
Sarah Jane Nader and her partner Hailey Bills were eliminated after the second half of the two-night premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 16. ABC held five couples back as safe first — Higgins, Jenna Dewan, Amber Glenn, Julia Stiles and Ciara Miller — which left Nader, Tatyana Ali and Miller standing in the bottom group before the last name was called.
Ali scored the lowest of the night at 12 and survived anyway. That is the same pattern as night one, when the lowest-scoring couple stayed and a 12 went home instead: judges' points are combined with live viewer votes, so a low score is survivable if the audience shows up.
What were the night two scores, dance by dance?
| Couple | Dance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas | Foxtrot | 21 |
| Jenna Dewan & Val Chmerkovskiy | Tango | 19 |
| Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov | Cha-cha | 18 |
| Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa | Quickstep | 18 |
| Giada De Laurentiis & Alan Bersten | Tango | 16 |
| Ciara Miller & Brandon Armstrong | Foxtrot | 15 |
| Sarah Jane Nader & Hailey Bills | Jive | 14 — eliminated |
| Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik | Jive | 12 |
Scores out of 30. Two recaps and ABC's own station write-up list the same eight numbers.
How does the season 35 leaderboard look after both premiere nights?
Here is the whole field, ranked, with the eliminated couples struck from the count. It is our own combined table — the show scored the two nights separately, so nobody publishes one list.
| Rank | Couple | Night | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (tie) | Harry Shum Jr. | One | 21 |
| 1 (tie) | Maura Higgins | Two | 21 |
| 3 | Ezra Frech | One | 20 |
| 4 | Jenna Dewan | Two | 19 |
| 5 (tie) | Amber Glenn · Julia Stiles | Two | 18 |
| 7 | Tyler Cameron | One | 17 |
| 8 (tie) | Connor Wood · Taylor Hanson · Giada De Laurentiis | One / Two | 16 |
| 11 (tie) | Jackson Olson · Ciara Miller | One / Two | 15 |
| 13 | Tatyana Ali | Two | 12 |
| 14 | Guillermo Rodriguez | One | 10 |
The women out-scored the men. Night two averaged a little over 16, night one a little under 16, and the two lowest marks of the premiere both belong to couples who are still in the ballroom.
How many couples are left?
Fourteen, after one elimination per premiere night. Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman left Tuesday; Nader and Bills left Wednesday.
👉 From here the field shrinks one couple a week, so a 12 will not survive twice. If you are tracking the cast itself, our season 35 cast page lists every pairing, and night one has the men's routines.
The rehearsal clothes people keep asking about are covered on our sister site's DWTS season 35 rehearsal wear page, and the costumes get taken apart in how ballroom costumes are built.
What happens Tuesday, Sept. 22?
Season 35 settles into its regular slot: Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming on Hulu. ABC's stations have billed the first regular episode as a viral hits night.
Our how to watch page keeps the current week's air time, and the week planner lines DWTS up against everything else, including Thursday's Big Brother double eviction.
FAQ
Who was eliminated on DWTS last night?
Sarah Jane Nader, dancing with Hailey Bills.
Who had the highest score?
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas, 21 out of 30 for a foxtrot.
How was the elimination decided?
Judges' scores were combined with live viewer votes, which is why the lowest-scoring couple stayed. Every result we post lands in the DWTS archive.
Sources
TODAY · TVLine · ABC7 · reality blurred · air times from ABC listings via TVmaze.