Amber Glenn Makes Stunning Debut On 'Dancing With The Stars'
Amber Glenn made her Dancing With the Stars debut Wednesday night, Night 2 of the Season 35 premiere on ABC, dancing with pro partner Pasha Pashkov as one of the most decorated athletes to ever compete on the show.
Glenn, 27, won team gold with Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and was the first U.S. woman to land three triple axels at a single Olympic Games.
She is a three-time U.S. national champion and the 2024-25 Grand Prix Final champion. She is also the first openly LGBTQ+ U.S. women's figure skating champion, a platform she has used deliberately to advocate for visibility and mental health support.
She had dreamed of competing on DWTS since watching Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis win the Mirrorball in Season 18 in 2014. When the show finally asked, she said it was an "easy yes" even though the schedule overlaps with the fall Grand Prix season. "I'm never going to get the chance to do something like this again," she said.
She was "slightly terrified" after seeing Pashkov's technical mastery, calling him "one of the best in the world." Traditional ballroom dances come more naturally given their overlap with skating's flow, but Latin dances are the challenge she is embracing.
"It's a challenge and it's new," she said. Madonna, whose "Like a Prayer" Glenn skated to at the Olympics, personally reached out to praise her performance this winter. The queen of pop's approval tends to translate well on dance floors.
