A new season of Dancing with the Stars might not be arriving on ABC and Disney+ until the fall, but fans are already looking out for clues as to who might be a part of the next season. And we can’t blame them.
While ABC once waited until just weeks before the season to unveil the Dancing with the Stars celebrity lineup, the show began to take a different approach to its casting strategy in 2025. Rather than revealing the names of the full cast close to the premiere, ABC began announcing cast additions as early as April with the addition of Robert Irwin as the first celebrity cast member for season 34. As the months rolled on, ABC began to gradually reveal additional names in timed announcements that kept the show at the forefront of the fans’ minds months before season 34 kicked off in September.
Fans are already on the lookout for clues as to which celebrities might Cha Cha Cha their way onto the ballroom floor next, and one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now just gave fans hope he could compete on Dancing with the Stars.
“If there was another skill I could learn, it would probably be ballroom dancing,” Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie told Vogue.
The comment immediately turned heads, with the Dancing with the Stars Tour social team wasting no time in using the confession to start a campaign for Storrie to join the season 35 cast.
“Consider this an official petition,” the Dancing with the Stars Tour wrote, sharing the clip of Storrie’s Vogue interview paired with a video from the tour in which fan-favorite pro dancer Ezra Sousa held up a sign that read, “I have a crush on Connor Storrie.”
The idea of Storrie joining the season 35 cast immediately earned support from fans who wasted no time jumping into the comments to express how much they want to see Storrie compete on Dancing with the Stars.
“I know he’s booked & busy, but I’m BEGGING,” commented one fan, acknowledging Storrie has become one of the most sought-after names in Hollywood following his breakout performance as Ilya Rozanov in Crave’s gay hockey romance series. Added another fan, “GIVE THE PEOPLE (mostly Ezra, though) WHAT THEY WANT!!!!”
Storrie expressing an interest in learning ballroom dancing is certainly interesting and it seems to give fans hope that he would entertain the idea of joining Dancing with the Stars. The whole point of the show is for celebrities to learn ballroom dancing, so it would naturally be a perfect platform for Storrie to pursue learning ballroom.
The one thing that could make it hard for this dream to become a reality is that Dancing with the Stars films in Los Angeles, while Heated Rivalry films in Canada. Filming on the second season of Heated Rivalry is slated to begin in August, which would put the show’s production in overlap with the new season of Dancing with the Stars. That’s not to say it couldn’t happen, but it certainly would lead to a complicated schedule for Storrie – not that he can’t juggle it. Since his breakout role, Storrie has been keeping quite busy and we don’t imagine he’ll slow down anytime soon.
Still, it does create an interesting opportunity for ABC. Not only would landing Storrie be a massive get for Dancing with the Stars, but it could also lead to the show making history with its same-sex male couple should the producers pair Storrie with Sousa. To steal a line from another popular LGBTQ+ franchise, History, huh? Bet we could make some!