This article contains spoilers for the season 31 premiere episode of Dancing With the Stars.
Dancing With the Stars is back! The premiere began with a fun-filled opening number and ended with the first elimination of the season.
The pairings with the lowest scores were Vinny Guadagnino and Koko Iwasaki and Jason Lewis and Peta Murgatroyd. After all the duos had danced and all the votes were counted, the bottom two couples were Teresa Giudice and Pasha Pashkov and Jason, 51, and Peta, 36.
All four judges chose to save Teresa and Pasha, meaning Jason and Peta were eliminated first.
The Monday, September 19, episode marked the reality competition’s first time streaming live only on Disney+ after 30 seasons on ABC. Host Tyra Banks also introduced her new cohost Alfonso Ribeiro for the first time. The 50-year-old Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum previously won season 19 of DWTS with his partner Witney Carson. Ribeiro told Us Weekly earlier this month that he knew he wanted to accept the cohosting gig as soon as he got the call.
“There was no hesitation. It was a very simple yes,” he said. Banks, 48, for her part, told Us of her new cohort, “When the team brought up the idea of Alfonso with me, I was like, ‘Yes, yes and yes, let’s stop right there and look no further.’”
The first couple of the season to perform were American Idol alum Jordin Sparks and Brandon Armstrong. When Sparks, 32, told Armstrong 28, that she had no real dance experience, he laughed and replied, “Oh, no, don’t tell me that.”
However, the “One Step At a Time” singer impressed her partner as she learned the Cha Cha to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).”
“For someone with no dance experience, she was actually pretty natural,” Armstrong said during the episode. Judge Len Goodman called the performance “clean” and “precise.” Derek Hough, for his part, did give the singer one thing she could work on, saying her “foot placement” could be “just a little more intentional.”
Back in May 2019, Sparks told Us that she would be “so terrified” to appear on the reality TV series. “Give me a microphone, I am totally fine. Tell me to dance in front of an audience and I … Mm-mm,” she said at the time.
Despite her reservations, the Arizona native and Armstrong earned a 26 out of 40 for their first dance. Other duos, however, weren’t as well-received by the judges.
After weather anchor Sam Champion’s Foxtrot to “Hold Me Closer” with Cheryl Burke, Goodman, 78, told the Weather Channel alum, “You came out with such a sunny disposition, however, a few dark clouds appeared.” The pair ultimately earned a 20 out of 40.
Scroll through to see all the performers’ scores after the premiere episode:
