The tenth season of the popular televised dance competition Dancing With the Stars has kicked off to a very promising start, bringing ABC record ratings, Entertainment Weekly informs. No less than 23.9 million people tuned in to see the premiere of the show, which has as contestants a very interesting mix of celebrities.

This year, stars from different areas of showbiz have been asked to participate in the show. These include Kate Gosselin from reality television, Pamela Anderson from glamour modeling and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls from music (and dancing), to name just three from this year’s lineup. With such contestants and the hype that preceded the unveiling of the official lineup, it’s no wonder ratings have been so good.

“The season 10 premiere of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars skyrocketed last night to its highest premiere numbers ever, according to preliminary overnight ratings. The competition scored a blockbuster 23.9 million viewers. The giant numbers for DWTS also helped propel Castle to its biggest audience ever with 13 million eyes,” EW says of the new record set by the DWTS season premiere.

“How I Met Your Mother” followed next on CBS with 8.5 million viewers, followed by “Chuck” on NBC with 5.5 million, Fox’s “House” (repeat) with 5.2 million and “Life Unexpected” on The CW with 2.0 million, the same publication goes on to say. As also noted above, the hit that the DWTS premiere proved to have also helped push “Castle” to attain record ratings, as it followed in the 10 pm slot, also on ABC. Overall, it was a wonderful night for the network.

Though she said in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel a while back that she was determined to win Dancing With the Stars, Kate Gosselin did not do as great as expected. At the opposite pole were Pamela Anderson and Nicole Scherzinger, who continues to insist her dancing experience with the burlesque troupe Pussycat Dolls doesn’t represent an advantage for her.