Witney Carsonis ready to bust a move—and a gut.
Quite literally, as theDancing With the Starspro just revealed her celebrity partner for season 35 will beJimmy Kimmel Live!starGuillermo Rodriguez.
“I was stoked,” Carson mused during an Aug. 17 appearance onGood Morning America. “He is so sweet, he’s so fun. That’s exactly what I need in the season of life that I’m in. Just someone who is fun, personable.”
Although, the 32-year-old—mom toLeo, 5, andJet, 3, with husbandCarson McAllister—admitted there may be one thing about her that could disappoint Rodriguez.
“I hope we still connect after he realizes I don’t drink and we won’t be able to do tequila shots,’” Carson joked, “but we can do some water. We can connect other ways. But I’m really excited.”
She and Rodriguez will technically be competing as a trio this upcoming season—which will also feature stars likeLove Island’sMaura Higginsand Savannah Bananas’Jackson Olson—as she also shared her pregnancy with baby no. 3 on the ABC morning show.
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Witney Carson Teases Her “Different Role” on Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro
“I am expecting, so I will be dancing with this little baby,” Carson confirmed. “Very excited but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t very daunting. I’ve never been this far along pregnant and competing onDancing With the Starsbefore ever. I don’t know if it’s ever been done.”
And since she’ll be four months along when the competition kicks off, she is well aware she is waltzing into new territory.
“You guys will definitely see a big bump,” Carson teased. “Someone the other day was like, ‘You could just hide it with some fringe and rhinestones.’ I was just thinking, I’m like, I don’t want to hide it. I am so proud to be a woman. To be creating life and growing this human and to be able to do the show and be able to compete and to grow this life is such a huge blessing.”
Trust, the season 34 Mirrorball winner—who took home the season’s top prize alongside celebrity contestantRobert Irwin—is ready to defend her crown, pregnancy or not.
“I’m so proud of it,” she emphasized. “I’m gonna kick butt while doing it. Let’s go.”
And in this uncharted chapter, Carson is sure that Rodriguez will be the perfect partner.
“I’m really excited I want to feel empowered I want to see what my body can do,” she added, “and hopefully Guillermo will be right there beside me and we can work as a team.”
Dancing With the Starsseason 35 hits ABC Sept. 15. In the meantime, keep reading for secrets behind the series…
ABC/Paula Lobo
However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.
“That show pays OK,” the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick’s podcast Trading Secrets. “Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it’s like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last.”
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show.”
ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they’re not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.
“You’re guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks,” Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester’s podcast The Morning After. “I think there’s different contracts though. I can’t speak for everybody.”
While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei—says the pros don’t get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there’s still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).
“If you make it all the way to the end, you’re getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale,” she explained on The Morning After. “If you win, it’s not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You’re just getting a cute trophy together.”
On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut “more than in half” when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
“You get no say,” Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers’ Hot Smart Rich podcast. “It’s very much just, ‘Here’s your partner. Make it work.'”
In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.
“They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live,” Jenna said on The Morning After. “They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we’re keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don’t even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner.”
As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?
“It’s based on height, build and personality and compatibility,” former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. “We don’t pair people who aren’t going to get on. It’s too intense. It’s not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn’t do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don’t want to see two people who don’t like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn’t get on so well.”
