“Dancing With The Stars” is about to start its 18th season, and the show’s creators announced the new lineup this morning. While some of the cast members may not come as a shock–“Real Housewives Of Atlanta” star Nene Leakes has been rumored to be a contender for a while now–other names are a bit of a surprise.
Here is the full lineup of dancers and their partners:
Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years), dancing with Val Chmerkovskiy
Cody Simpson (Australian pop star), dancing with Witney Carson
Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars), dancing with Emma Slater
Diana Nyad (Long-distance swimmer), dancing with Henry Byalikov
NeNe Leakes (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), dancing with Tony Dovolani
James Maslow (Big Time Rush), dancing with Peta Murgatroyd
Sean Avery (Former NHL player), dancing with Karina Smirnoff
Drew Carey (The Price is Right), dancing with Cheryl Burke
Candace Cameron Bure (Full House), dancing with Mark Ballas
Charlie White (Olympic gold medalist, ice dancing), dancing with Sharna Burgess
Meryl Davis (Olympic gold medalist, ice dancing), dancing with Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Amy Purdy (US Paralympic Team Snowboarder), dancing with Derek Hough
The hit dance competition has been in the news in recent weeks due to the sudden firing of hostess Brooke Burke-Charvet. Burke-Charvet spoke out about her termination on “Good Morning America” on Monday, saying she was as shocked as anyone because of the way it was done.
“The only shocking thing about it, really, is the way that it went down,” she said. “Finding out just several weeks before the premiere was a little bit tough, but I’m good. I’m happy.”
“Weird day….Shocking pre-season elimination #DWTS…ME. @TomBergeron didn’t even read my name. I won’t be returning to the show this season,” she wrote on Twitter on February 21.
The position will be taken over by ESPN reporter Erin Andrews.
