Is This Olympic Speed Skater Joining ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35? Why Fans Are Convinced

Ever since she won gold (and set a new Olympic record) in the 1000m event at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam has been keeping a pretty low profile, which makes sense! She deserves a little R&R—and of course, she has her upcoming wedding with Jake Paul to plan (because yes, she is, in fact, engaged to Jake Paul). But fans suspect that she could have another project in the works...that project being the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.The first clue? Earlier this month, Jutta took to TikTok to post a video of herself dancing behind text reading, “When you’re working on exciting things.” And the caption? “🧑🏼‍🩰🧑🏼‍🩰🧑🏼‍🩰”Another clue? When she’s not in Puerto Rico with her fiancé, she’s been spending a lot of time in the states...and no time training on the ice with her fellow top speed skaters at Thialf in Heerenveen.Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.Use your Google account to add this to your settings.Dutch publication NU.nl even did some boots-on-the-ground journalism to ask Jutta’s teammates Kai Verbij and Femke Kok about her absence. Kai said that he didn’t “expect Jutta to be on the ice this season,” adding, “If you haven’t trained for six months, it is very difficult to start a season without preparation. Although, of course, I don’t know what she is doing in America.”Femke also didn’t have much insight into what Jutta has been up to. “I told her after the Games that I really hope she continues. But I don’t know if she followed my advice,” she joked.This certainly wouldn’t be the first time that DWTS has included an Olympian contestant. A whopping 23 Olympics have competed for the iconic Mirrorball Trophy, the latest being gymnast Jordan Chiles, who finished in third place with partner Ezra Sosa (who Jutta follows on Instagram, btw. Coincidence? Perhaps!!).We’ll know for sure whether Jutta is hitting the ballroom when the full DWTS season 35 cast is announced on Good Morning America on September 2.