Julia Stiles proved Andy Cohen‘s previous assertion that she couldn’t dance wrong after commanding the Dancing With the Starsstage during the season 35 two-night premiere.
Read more ‘The Pitt’ Creator Reveals How Long Show Will Run Amid Shocking Cast Exits
“Derek [Hough] said it best,” Stiles, 45, succinctly told Us exclusively after the Wednesday, September 16, live broadcast, referring to the DWTS judge’s diss to Cohen, 58.
In rehearsal footage shared Wednesday, Stiles claimed that the Bravo host once claimed that she didn’t know how to dance following her onscreen performances in 10 Things I Hate About You and Save the Last Dance.
After Stiles’ quickstep to Dolly Parton‘s “9 to 5” with pro partner Ezra Sosa earned an impressive 18 out of 30, Hough, 41, joked that Cohen could “eat it” because the number was “beautiful and graceful.” (Cohen later issued an apology to Stiles during his Wednesday broadcast of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.)
“Honestly, I feel like the best message is he should tune in every Tuesday night on Dancing with the Stars,” Sosa, 25, quipped to Us. “He will see some great dancing from this diva.”
Stiles and Sosa’s routine – Parton approved the song choice weeks before her death at age 80 – also impressed Hough’s fellow judge Bruno Tonioli, who gushed that the actress was a “great dancer.”
Read more Trump claims NC crime among worst in country. His attorney general says otherwise
“I was so, like, having an out-of-body experience. He said I was a great dancer?” Stiles said of Tonioli’s comments. “I’m gonna go home and watch that on repeat, that’s great. You know, sometimes performers we only hear the critique, but I’m gonna try and take this in and just take the positive.”
Stiles and Sosa are now focused on bringing their A-game yet again for the second week of the competition, where the DWTS pairs will all perform routines to various viral hits.
“I mean, there were some major, impressive dances that got me to be like, ‘Oh, OK, we better bring it,'” she said of her competition, especially praising paralympian Ezra Frech‘s tango on the Tuesday, September 16, episode. “[He] was incredible, and he matched Daniella [Karagach], who is so fierce, and it was great. I was like, ‘Whoa!'”
As for Stiles, her routine undoubtedly impressed her husband, Preston Cook, and their three children.
“I’m gonna cry because [my husband has] really, really been holding down the fort at home so that I could come and do this,” she gushed. “It means that I don’t have to worry about or feel guilty, and they see how much fun Mommy is having and how happy I am, and it’s really, really incredible.”
Read more What’s the best grocery store in Raleigh? Here’s what shoppers told us
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
Copyright 2026 Us Weekly. All rights reserved
This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 7:55 AM.