Lead: On November 11, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars will mark its 20th anniversary with a special episode that reunites past contestants and introduces a format twist, Deadline reports. The show’s individual-round assignments for the remaining couples — including dance styles and songs — have been disclosed, and producers are adding a first-ever relay change that pairs celebrities with returning Mirrorball champions. Original host Tom Bergeron is slated to serve as a guest judge that night, while two competitors already secured immunity and extra points from a prior themed episode.
Key Takeaways
- The 20th-anniversary edition airs November 11 and will spotlight returning faces from the show’s history.
- Deadline obtained the remaining couples’ dance-style and song assignments for the individual competition.
- For the relay round, celebrities will, for the first time, dance without their current professional partners and instead team with past Mirrorball winners to perform Quickstep, Viennese Waltz or Jive.
- Tom Bergeron will appear as a guest judge on the anniversary episode.
- Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas earned immunity during Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night and will not participate in the relay; they will receive two automatic bonus points.
- Listed assignments include Foxtrot, Argentine Tango, Quickstep, Salsa and Cha Cha set to specified tracks by Matthew Morrison, Leona Lewis, Bill Withers and others.
- The relay twist’s returning Mirrorball champions have not been announced publicly.
Background
Dancing With The Stars debuted on ABC two decades ago and has since become a ritual of seasonal celebrity competition and live ballroom performance. Over the years the series has mixed pop-culture casting with professional-dancer choreography, producing multiple Mirrorball winners and occasional format experiments to refresh viewer interest. Anniversary episodes historically lean on nostalgia, bringing back former contestants, judges or hosts to create shared, headline-making moments.
This season has already introduced themed nights and scoring incentives: during Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night, the highest combined judges’ scores resulted in immunity for the top-scoring couple. Producers are now combining that scoring structure with anniversary callbacks and a novel relay mechanic aimed at spotlighting past champions. The move signals an intent to balance competitive stakes with celebratory spectacle as the show reaches its 20-year milestone.
Main Event
Deadline’s exclusive breakdown lists the dance and song pairings for the remaining couples in the individual round. Social-media personality Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy are slotted to perform a Foxtrot to Matthew Morrison’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” while Robert Irwin and Witney Carson will also do a Foxtrot, set to Leona Lewis’s “Footprints in the Sand.”
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas — who have immunity for the relay and will receive two bonus points — are assigned an Argentine Tango to “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago The Musical. Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach are scheduled for an Argentine Tango to Bill Withers’s “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Comedian Andy Richter and Emma Slater will tackle a Quickstep to Robbie Williams’s rendition of “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Elaine Hendrix with Alan Bersten are paired for a Salsa to Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two,” and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles alongside Ezra Sosa will dance a Cha Cha to Ciara’s “Get Up” featuring Chamillionaire.
Separately, producers confirmed a relay-round novelty: rather than performing with their season partners, celebrities will join returning Mirrorball champions for quick-form dances in Quickstep, Viennese Waltz or Jive rotations. The list of returning champions has not been released, and producers are positioning the reveal as part of the anniversary-night surprises.
Analysis & Implications
The relay alteration changes the competitive calculus. Pairing celebrities with past Mirrorball winners can raise performance levels quickly, as champions bring familiarity with live competition pressure and a repertoire of polished technique. That may compress score differentials and shift viewer expectations: judges will be assessing celebrities paired with arguably stronger partners than the professionals currently assigned to them.
From a programming standpoint, the twist is a strategic bid to boost live tune-in and social-media conversation. Anniversary shows trade on nostalgia; adding surprise returners and an unprecedented relay format creates multiple appointment-to-watch moments, which are valuable in an era when streaming and on-demand viewing fragment audiences.
There are production risks. Some viewers prize the chemistry between a celebrity and their regular pro partner; temporarily separating those duos could upset audience loyalties and change narrative arcs built over the season. Judges’ scoring could also receive more scrutiny if previously eliminated winners are perceived to tilt results by bolstering certain celebrity appearances.
Comparison & Data
| Couple | Dance | Song (Artist) |
|---|---|---|
| Alix Earle & Val Chmerkovskiy | Foxtrot | “Singin’ in the Rain” (Matthew Morrison) |
| Robert Irwin & Witney Carson | Foxtrot | “Footprints in the Sand” (Leona Lewis) |
| Whitney Leavitt & Mark Ballas | Argentine Tango | “Cell Block Tango” (Chicago cast) |
| Dylan Efron & Daniella Karagach | Argentine Tango | “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers) |
| Andy Richter & Emma Slater | Quickstep | “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (Robbie Williams) |
| Elaine Hendrix & Alan Bersten | Salsa | “It Takes Two” (Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock) |
| Jordan Chiles & Ezra Sosa | Cha Cha | “Get Up” (Ciara ft. Chamillionaire) |
The table shows two Foxtrots and two Argentine Tangos among the seven listed assignments, with individual representation for Quickstep, Salsa and Cha Cha. That concentration suggests judges and choreographers may be testing how well celebrities adapt to slower, style-heavy ballroom dances (Foxtrot, Argentine Tango) alongside high-energy numbers (Quickstep, Salsa, Cha Cha) heading into the relay format.
Reactions & Quotes
“For the first time ever, celebrities will dance without their professional partners,”
Deadline (exclusive report)
The relay format announcement, as reported by Deadline, framed the change as an historic first for the competition. The phrasing underscores the producers’ intent to make the anniversary episode distinct from prior seasons.
“The November 11 episode is dedicated to commemorating two decades of the series,”
Deadline (coverage)
That network-level positioning places the episode between a competitive round and a retrospective celebration — a hybrid that aims to satisfy both score-driven viewers and fans of the show’s legacy moments.
Unconfirmed
- No official list has been released identifying which Mirrorball champions will return for the relay round; names reported publicly remain unconfirmed.
- It is not yet confirmed how judges will weigh relay scores relative to the individual-round totals beyond the two-point immunity award already granted to Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas.
Bottom Line
The Nov. 11 anniversary episode is engineered as both a celebration and a ratings driver: producers are blending nostalgia with a structural innovation that could materially affect competition outcomes. Pairing celebrities with past champions for the relay is likely to elevate on-floor quality and generate social-media buzz, but it also raises fairness and narrative concerns that producers must manage transparently.
For viewers, the episode promises a mix of rehearsed competitive assignments — Foxtrots, Argentine Tangos, Quickstep, Salsa and Cha Cha — and surprise returns that may dominate headlines. Watchers should expect heightened production moments, potential guest-judge fireworks from Tom Bergeron’s appearance, and a scoring landscape reshaped by immunity points and the champion-assisted relay.
Sources
- Deadline — entertainment news (exclusive report)