Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is an American dance competition television series that premiered on June 1, 2005, on ABC. It is the US version of the UK series Strictly Come Dancing. The show is hosted by Tom Bergeron, alongside Erin Andrews, who became co-host in season eighteen. Lisa Canning was co-host in the first season, Samantha Harris co-hosted seasons two through nine and Brooke Burke-Charvet in seasons ten through seventeen.

The format of the show consists of a celebrity paired with a professional dancer. Each couple performs predetermined dances and competes against the others for judges' points and audience votes. The couple receiving the lowest combined total of judges' points and audience votes is eliminated each week until only the champion dance pair remains.

Hosts
Tom Bergeron has been the host since the program's premiere in 2005. In season 1, his co-host was Lisa Canning. She was replaced by Samantha Harris for seasons 2 through 9 (2006–09), who was then replaced by Brooke Burke-Charvet from seasons 10 through 17 (2010–13). Erin Andrews took over as co-host starting in season 18 (2014).

Judging panel
The regular judges are Len Goodman, who serves as head judge, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli. Goodman was absent for much of season 19, all of season 21, and much of season 23. Julianne Hough, who was a professional dancing partner for seasons 4–8, was added as a full-time judge on the panel for three seasons, 19–21, after having been a guest judge in the previous two seasons. She did not return for season 22. Hough did return as a full-time judge for seasons 23 and 24 but did not return for seasons 25 and 26.

Couples
A total of 309 celebrities have appeared in the 27 seasons of the series. For each season, the celebrities are paired with a professional partner who instructs them in the various dances each week and competes alongside them in the televised competition. A total of 45 professional partners have appeared alongside celebrities, some for only one season (mostly in the earliest seasons).

For 17 seasons, the Harold Wheeler orchestra and singers provided the live music for the show. On February 7, 2014, it was announced that the new bandleader is Ray Chew. Along with him is a new band of instrumentalists and singers.