Okay so the DWTS tour lineup for 2027 just dropped and I have thoughts. Lots of thoughts. Because while the headliners being announced are basically a murderer’s row of fan favorites, there are some names missing that have people in the comments section losing their minds. And honestly? Same.

Who’s Actually Headed Out on the Road

ABC made it official in October 2026 – the Dancing With the Stars live tour is back for 2027, and the pros leading the charge read like a greatest hits list. We’re talking Brandon Armstrong, Rylee Arnold, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Sharna Burgess and Britt Stewart. That’s six legit headliners, which is honestly a stacked lineup by any touring standard.

And it’s not just the headliners. The troupe dancers are coming along too – Kamri Peterson, Onye Stevenson, Jaxon Willard and Carter Williams round things out. These are the folks you see in the background numbers during the TV show who honestly deserve way more credit than they get, so it’s nice to see them get billing on the tour announcement instead of just existing as background dancers nobody can name.

The Val and Jenna of It All

Can we talk about Val and Jenna for a second? These two have basically become the backbone of every DWTS tour for what feels like a decade now (not literally, but it feels that way). Val’s been doing this since the Maks and Val era and Jenna’s one of the most technically gifted dancers the show has ever had. Their presence on this tour isn’t surprising at all – it would honestly be weirder if they weren’t on it.

So Who’s Missing? That’s the Real Question

Here’s where it gets interesting. Because the pros who AREN’T on this list are just as notable as the ones who are. Fans have been scrolling through the announcement trying to figure out who got left off, and there’s some real head-scratching happening online right now.

Look, touring casts never include every single pro from the current season – that’s just logistics. Not everyone wants to spend months on a bus hopping between arenas, and honestly, who could blame them? Touring is grueling. You’re dancing eight shows a week in different cities, living out of a suitcase, and doing it all while smiling for photo ops at 11pm after a three hour show. It’s not for everyone, and some pros have made it clear over the years that they’d rather focus on the TV season and sit tours out entirely.

“After a fully […]” – Emma Slater, teasing tour details following her Mariah Carey Night performance on October 6

What We Know (And What We Don’t)

Emma Slater actually got out ahead of the official announcement a bit, dropping hints about the tour right after her Mariah Carey Night performance on Tuesday, October 6. Fans who are obsessed with season 35 (and really, who isn’t right now) have been counting down for exactly this kind of news. The live tour has become its own entity at this point – almost a separate fandom moment from the televised show, with its own energy and its own die-hard following that shows up to every single stop. The audience that night also included Justin Baldoni's rare night out, which became its own subplot in the headlines the next day.

The thing is, we don’t have full confirmation yet on every single absence and the reasoning behind it. ABC’s announcement focused on who’s IN, not really explaining who’s out or why. So some of this is reading between the lines – pros who’ve sat out tours before for scheduling reasons, pros who might be focused on other projects, or honestly, pros who just weren’t asked back this cycle for reasons nobody’s talking about publicly.

That’s the frustrating part of these announcements, not gonna lie. We get the exciting news – six headliners, a full troupe, cities probably coming soon – but the “why” behind the missing names usually stays behind closed doors. Maybe we’ll get more details as the tour gets closer. Maybe we won’t. That’s just how these things go sometimes.

What This Actually Means

At the end of the day, this tour lineup is strong. Really strong. Having Val, Jenna, Sharna, Britt, Brandon and Rylee all under one roof for a multi-city run is the kind of thing that sells out arenas fast, and the troupe additions give it real depth beyond just star power. But the absences are going to fuel speculation for weeks, especially from fans who had specific favorites they were hoping to see live.

I’ll say this much – if you’ve been on the fence about grabbing tickets, I wouldn’t wait too long once cities and dates get announced. This cast is the kind that moves fast. And if your favorite pro didn’t make the cut this time around? There’s always next year. Probably.