Spoilers ahead for Disney100 Night of Dancing with the Stars Season 32.
Dancing with the Stars celebrated the 100th anniversary of Disney with a special theme night, which involved pulling songs as far back as Fantasia from 1940 to the Disney Renaissance to Frozen 2's "Into the Unknown." The top score of the night went to Xochitl Gomez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy, while NFL star Adrian Peterson and partner Britt Stewart were eliminated. The show also took some time to hype what's coming in the next episode: a tribute to late judge Len Goodman, which will bring back some former pros. Plus, one star shared thoughts on the newly-renamed Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy!
Hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough didn't drop all the details about what to expect from the dance tribute to Len Goodman, but there can be no doubt that DWTS is pulling out the stops. On top of the current crop of pro dancers, these familiar faces were confirmed during Disney100 Night to be coming back for the event:
- Maks Chmerkovskiy
- Kym Johnson-Herjavec
- Tony Dovolani
- Anna Trebunskaya
- Edyta Śliwińska
- Karina Smirnoff
- Louis van Amstel
- Mark Ballas
Based on Ribeiro and Hough's announcement, it's likely that more former pro DTWS dancers will be named in the coming days, but these eight alone are worth getting excited about! All debuted in the very early seasons of the long-running competition show, with Edyta Śliwińska and Louis van Amstel taking the DWTS stage in the very first season. These returns on top of the trophy being renamed for Len Goodman are fitting tributes to the longtime judge, and the big performance follows the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy reveal in the premiere. Take a look:
While the pro dancers have the most experience working with Len Goodman, the tributes to him make this a special season for the celebrities dancing as well. Adrian Peterson won't be performing next week after his Disney100 Night elimination, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness alum Xochitl "Little Marvelette" Gomez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy earned the top score of the night with a 27 for their paso doble to "Un Poco Loco" from Coco.
Gomez, who had to face a fear when she rocked a Gwen Stefani-inspired look for her salsa, spoke with CinemaBlend for Season 32. After raving about working with Val as her partner, I asked for her thoughts on competing for the newly-named Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, and she shared:
I think this is a really beautiful tribute to Len. Personally, he was one of my favorite judges. He was just so honest, but it was in the most polite way ever. It's kind of like when you just want to do something better for them, because they're that polite and that really nice to work with. I never got to work with him, but just from rehearsal packages and packages that I've seen. I do so much research on this show. Basically every night I watched one [episode] at home. I think I'm gonna miss missing out on working with him.
Fans still have a while to wait before finding out who will take home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy for the very first time, but the competition is already stiff. Grammy-winner Jason Mraz has consistently been one of the top celebs in the points, despite coming into DWTS with what he described as "low expectations." Meanwhile, Alyson Hannigan brought the energy for her Beauty and the Beast number just a week after being sick, and she is one step closer to the possible Taylor Swift Night.
Keep tuning in to ABC at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesdays for new episodes of Dancing with the Stars, or stream Season 32 with a Disney+ subscription. If you've missed any so far and don't have access to Disney+, you can also revisit every episode of Season 32 so far with a Hulu subscription.
