Dancing With the Stars revealed the latest set of celebrities that will compete on the new season of the long-running ABC reality competition dance show, and they include a former Kardashian husband, a former White House Press Secretary and a Bachelorette star.
The competing celebrities for Season 28 include country music star Lauren Alaina, former professional football player Ray Lewis, singer Ally Brooke, actor Kel Mitchell, model Christie Brinkley, Dawson’s Creek actor James Van Der Beek, legendary Supremes singer Mary Wilson, former basketball star and ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian, Lamar Odom, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Karamo Brown and The Office star Kate Flannery.
Show host Tom Bergeron revealed during a cast sit down with the hosts of GMA that none of the pro dancers know who they will be dancing with as of today. The partnerships will be announced prior to their first days of rehearsals as the cast readies themselves for the show’s first episode.
Fans will not find out the matchups between pros and celebrities until the show debuts on September 16.
The show has teased many big changes this season after Season 27 ended in a spectacular and memorable fashion in November 2018.
FULL CAST REVEAL OF @DancingABC: https://t.co/dRgklOgfAw @karamo @raylewis @Iamkelmitchell @SeaBrinkley @seanspicer @RealLamarOdom @AllyBrooke @KateFlannery @Lauren_Alaina @vanderjames @hannahbrown @MWilsonSupreme #DancingOnGMA #DWTS
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 21, 2019
After Bobby Bones won the show’s iconic mirrorball trophy along with his professional partner, Sharna Burgess, fan backlash caused the show to reportedly reevaluate its voting procedures in preparation for the new season. Although Bones was a favorite for his humble style of dancing, he did not generate high judge scores due to his lack of ballroom skills. Bones was reportedly voted to the top of the leaderboard and would eventually win the season due to his large fan base in the country music world.
. @MWilsonSupreme is READY to dance on the new season of @DancingABC! #DWTS #DancingOnGMA https://t.co/BH4c0SpEMj pic.twitter.com/bip2UCso5K
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 21, 2019
Tom Bergeron noted on GMA to the celebrities that the key to personal and professional success on the series was to just “have fun” during the show.
Over the past several months, Bergeron, the series’ host since its first episode debuted in 2005, has teased on social media that there will be several big changes on the series this season, alluding to fans’ unhappiness with the show’s prior voting procedures. In several Twitter threads posted in early June, Tom explained that fans “were heard” as the show began its pre-production meetings.
Up until now, the show has given equal weight to the judges’ scores and viewer votes. While this worked in earlier seasons of the series, it soon became apparent that fans were working cohesively as groups to push their favorite celebrities forward in the competition through social media and phone votes. It is still unknown how the show plans to rectify this problem.
Dancing With the Stars will debut its new season on Monday, September 16 on ABC.
