Amid cha chas, fox trots and salsas, only some stars will shine.
So it went when season 32 of Dancing with the Stars premiered on Sept. 26. Finding themselves back in the ballroom after last season were judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, while returning host Alfonso Ribeiro was joined by someone who is no stranger to the show—Julianne Hough, who was previously both a dancer and judge on the ABC series, made her debut as cohost.
And when it came to stellar performances, the judges were in for a treat. Jason Mraz and his partner set the bar high early on with their performance of the cha cha to Jason's own song "I Feel Like Dancing," which earned the pair a 21 out of 30. Another high scoring pair were Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov, whose performance of the tango to "Love Myself" by Hailee Steinfeld not only earned them a 21, but also proved Ariana is doing just fine in the wake of her very public split from Tom Sandoval.
However the true star of the evening was the newly engaged Charity Lawson. The former Bachelorette's rendition of the tango set to Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" earned her and partner Artem Chigvintesv a 22.
But where come the best couples, so too come the lowest-scoring performances. During the evening, three pairs tied for the lowest spot with scores of 12—model Tyson Beckford and partner Jenna Johnson, Too Hot To Handle's Harry Jowsey and dance professional Rylee Arnold and, finally, Veep's Matt Walsh and his partner Koko Iwasaki. Ultimately, the comedian and Koko were the first pair to be eliminated from this season.
Whether Matt would perform at all during the premiere was at one point up in the air, as the actor announced on Sept. 21 that he would be stepping away from the show amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes by the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
"I am taking a pause from Dancing with the Stars until an agreement is made with the WGA," Matt told People in a statement at the time. "I was excited to join the show and did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement. This morning when I was informed by my union, the WGA, that it is considered struck work I walked out of my rehearsal."
However in light of the WGA announcing they'd reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Sept. 24, Matt ultimately took his shot at the mirrorball trophy, though his time on the show was short lived.
To see all the celebrity-professional pairings you can cheer on this season of Dancing with the Stars, keep reading.
The Brady Bunch actor will be dancing with Peta Murgatroyd.
The Veep alum is paired with Koko Iwasaki.
The real estate broker—who recently separated from wife Kyle Richards—is partnered with Emma Slater.
The Oscar winner will be dancing with Gleb Savchenko.
The social media star will be dancing with Brandon Armstrong.
The football player is partnered with Britt Stewart.
The Grammy winner is partnered with Daniella Karagach.
The Too Hot to Handle star is paired with Rylee Arnold.
The How I Met Your Mother alum will be paired with Sasha Farber.
The Marvel star will be partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy.
The supermodel is paired with Jenna Johnson.
The Vanderpump Rules star is partnered with Pasha Pashkov.
The Bachelorette star is paired with Artem Chigvintsev.
The Zoey 102 star is partnered with Alan Bersten.