Dancing With the Stars is adding a new spinoff, and Robert Irwin will host it. The franchise’s latest offshoot, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, is set to air on ABC on Monday, July 13, 2026, with the competition designed to find the next pro dancer for season 35.
The announcement came on April 22 as Irwin and Witney Carson stepped away from the Dancing With the Stars live tour to deliver the news. In the official promo, the show was billed as “a journey to the ballroom like never before,” and fans were told to join Irwin for the premiere on ABC. Mark Ballas and his mother, Shirley Ballas, are set to serve as judges.
Irwin said on Instagram that he was “so excited to be back with my ballroom family to host this new era of DWTS,” adding later that he and Carson took “a little detour” from the tour to make the announcement and that their day on the road looked like that. The post drew quick enthusiasm from other dancers, including Ezra Sosa, Jenna Johnson and Britt Stewart, who reacted with messages of support and anticipation.
The spinoff fits into a broader push by the franchise to expand behind the scenes while season 35 of Dancing With the Stars is expected to arrive this fall on ABC. Irwin’s new role also keeps him in the center of the ballroom world after he and Carson won season 34, a result that made him one of the show’s most recognizable recent champions.
What happens next is now set on the calendar: Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro premieres July 13, and ABC will use the series to decide who earns a place in the franchise’s next round of professional dancers. For Irwin, the answer to the question raised by the announcement is clear — he is not just returning to the ballroom, he is hosting the next chapter of it.
