Plot Synopsis

American stars of entertainment, sports, fashion and pop culture are paired with professional dancers, and the dancing pairs compete against each other in weekly dancing elimination challenges. Each week the couple with the smallest number of points -- a combination of scores from a panel of judges and audience votes -- is sent home. Previous winners are: Kelly Monaco (Season 1); Drew Lachey (Season 2); Emmit Smith (Season 3); Apolo Anton Ohno (Season 4); Helio Castroneves (Season 5); Kristi Yamaguchi (Season 6); Brooke Burke (Season 7); Shawn Johnson (Season 8); Donny Osmond (Season 9); Nicole Scherzinger (Season 10); Jennifer Grey (Season 11); Hines Ward (Season 12); J.R. Martinez (Season 13); Donald Driver (Season 14: All-Stars); Melissa Rycroft (Season 15); Kellie Pickler (Season 16); Amber Riley (Season 17); Meryl Davis (Season 18); and Alfonso Ribeiro (Season 19); Rumer Willis (Season 20); Bindi Irwin (Season 21); Nyle DiMarco (Season 22); Laurie Hernandez (Season 23); Rashad Jennings (Season 24); Jordan Fisher (Season 25); Adam Rippon (Season 26); Bobby Bones (Season 27).

Season 28 of DANCING WITH THE STARS kicks off on Monday, September 16, 2019 from 8-10pm ET/PT on ABC, featuring a lineup of celebrities including a supermodel, a former White House press secretary, a Bachelorette, pro-athletes from the NFL and NBA, a Supreme and a TV icon to name a few. For the first time ever, viewers will have to tune in to the season premiere to find out with whom their favorite professional dancers are paired. This season also features the return of a loved pro, Peta Murgatroyd, and two new professional ballroom dancers. Talent for the new season includes:

Celebrities:
- Lauren Alaina, country music star
- Sailor Brinkley-Cook (who replaced mother Christie Brinkley, supermodel)
- Ally Brooke, pop star
- Hannah Brown, THE BACHELORETTE
- Karamo Brown, TV host
- Kate Flannery, TV star
- Ray Lewis, NFL Hall of Famer
- Kel Mitchell, comedian/actor
- Lamar Odom, two-time NBA champion
- Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary
- James Van Der Beek, TV icon
- Mary Wilson, The Supremes

Professional dancers:
- Brandon Armstrong
- Lindsay Arnold
- Alan Bersten
- Cheryl Burke
- Witney Carson
- Val Chmerkovskiy
- Sasha Farber
- Jenna Johnson
- Daniella Karagach
- Keo Motsepe
- Peta Murgatroyd
- Pasha Pashkov
- Gleb Savchenko
- Emma Slater

Throughout the first evening, the celebrity and pro duos perform the time-honored dances of the Cha Cha, Foxtrot, Salsa or Tango. Some of the songs featured in the premiere will include Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like a Woman!," Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money," Jonas Brothers' "Sucker," Michael Buble's "Feeling Good," Lizzo's "Juice" and Imagine Dragons' "Whatever it Takes," among others.

For the show's first broadcast, there is no viewing audience vote, and only the judges score the routines. Those scores carry over and will be combined with judges' scores from week two, which also marks the first weekly live viewing audience vote of the season (via abc.com and SMS/text) -- and the first elimination. The live votes will occur each week only during the live broadcast in the EDT/CDT time zones (but fans in all U.S. time zones may vote within that window).

Moving forward with each subsequent Monday night, the live vote combined with the judges' scores will be revealed during the broadcast.