Dancing with the Stars won’t be new this week (and here’s why)

If you’re looking forward to enjoying a new episode of Dancing with the Stars this week, we have some bad news for you. There will be no new episode of ABC’s hit series coming fans way this Tuesday night as the show is taking a one-week break with no episode coming on Oct. 1 – and there’s a key reason for this. 

On Oct. 1, Tim Walz and JD Vance will face off in another vice presidential debate which will be causing the broadcast networks to shuffle around their normal Tuesday night programming. In order to make room for coverage of the debate, ABC has been forced to preempt Dancing with the Stars, which is one of many shows that are impacted by debate coverage. 

Along with Dancing with the Stars, ABC also had to preempt its freshman drama High Potential this week, while FOX had to delay the return of Accused, and NBC had to push back the season 2 premiere of The Irrational. 

Although there will not be a new episode of Dancing with the Stars this week, there is some good news for fans as ABC is preparing to bring viewers a special double pump of Dancing with the Stars next week! As confirmed by ABC, Dancing with the Stars will air a two-night event with new episodes on Monday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 8. 

While not yet confirmed, it is expected that each of the two episodes will result in the elimination of a couple which should help the show though there is a chance we could instead see another double elimination during the Tuesday night episode instead. Either way, we’re expecting that two more couples will be sent home next week and it’s going to be interesting to see who might go home next. 

There are definitely some lower-scoring couples who we imagine will be in more danger than others, but this is Dancing with the Stars and you never know when there will be a shocking elimination of a high-scoring couple. The early weeks of the competition can often lead to more than a few surprising eliminations as the judges' scores can only do so much to help the stars as America's votes can often prove to be make or break for some couples.

Don't miss ABC's two-night Dancing with the Stars event beginning on Monday, Oct. 7 at 8/7c and concluding in the show's normal timeslot on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 8/7c!