A family-competition show built on genuine skill, discipline, and personal growth stories, with the primary caution being costuming (frequently revealing) and some dance styles (occasionally sensual choreography) rather than language, violence, or explicit content.
Dancing with the Stars pairs celebrities with professional ballroom dancers who train and choreograph routines performed live each week, judged by a panel and eliminated by a combination of judges' scores and audience vote. Season 35 premieres September 15 and 16, 2026, on ABC and Disney+, with a cast revealed September 2 including actresses Jenna Dewan and Julia Stiles, chef Giada De Laurentiis, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" announcer Guillermo Rodriguez, musician Taylor Hanson, and reality personalities Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller, and Tyler Cameron, alongside returning judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli.
The most consistent, legitimate Christian concern about DWTS isn't language or explicit content, the show is family-hour network television with none of either, it's costuming and certain dance styles. Ballroom and Latin dance costumes are frequently form-fitting, sometimes brief, and choreography for styles like the tango, rumba, or paso doble can include close physical contact and sensual movement intended to convey passion or drama as part of the dance's actual technical tradition. 1 Timothy 2:9's call to modesty is the passage most Christian commentary on the show reasonably applies here, and it's a fair one: this is real, recurring content worth being aware of before watching with children, not an occasional exception.
Underneath the costuming concern, the show's actual content is unusually wholesome by reality-TV standards. There's no scripted drama, manufactured conflict, or interpersonal cruelty central to the format, the competition is built on visible skill, weeks of hard work, and personal growth, often for celebrities facing real physical or personal challenges publicly for the first time. Past seasons have featured genuine, family-friendly storylines: a contestant learning to dance after injury or illness, a parent-and-child pro pairing, or a competitor processing grief or a public setback through the process. Judges' critiques focus on technical skill and performance, not personal attacks.
Many Christian families watch DWTS together with simple, practical awareness: certain routines or performers lean more into revealing costuming or suggestive choreography than others, and a parent can reasonably decide episode-by-episode or fast-forward through a specific number rather than treating the whole season as off-limits. This is a show where discernment operates at the individual-performance level more than the series level as a whole.
Costuming: Frequently revealing, consistent with competitive ballroom and Latin dance tradition; the most significant and recurring content note. Choreography: Occasionally sensual or suggestive, particularly in Latin-style dances (rumba, paso doble, tango), though never explicit. Language: None of concern; this is family-hour network programming. Violence or sexual content: None. Positive themes: Genuine skill development, discipline, personal growth, and family-friendly competition without manufactured interpersonal drama.
Dancing with the Stars scores 62/100, Mixed. This reflects a show that's genuinely wholesome in format and tone but carries a real, recurring modesty concern in costuming and some choreography that families should watch for and can reasonably navigate episode-by-episode rather than avoiding the show entirely.
See ABC News's full Season 35 cast and premiere details and the Wikipedia overview of Dancing with the Stars. See our Christian TV Reviews hub for similar family-viewing assessments.