Dancing with the Stars is doing something different for season 26, shortening the competition to just four weeks and giving us a cast filled with 10 athletes in the ultimate battle. But when will the cast be revealed and what stars from the 2018 Winter Olympics could we see? ?
ABC Sets Dancing with the Stars Premiere Date
In an interview with casting director Deena Katz for 11Alive, it was revealed that the 10 athletes competing for this season’s Mirror Ball will be revealed during the week of April 9, three weeks before the competition begins on Monday, April 30 at 8/7c on ABC.
As for who we might see, Katz was watching the Winter Olympics closely and said there will likely be one or two Olympians in the cast, either from the games in Pyeongchang or from the past.
Katz mentioned that she could easily fill the entire cast with figure skaters, which is no surprise as many of them were the breakout stars of the Olympics. Adam Rippon, Nathan Chen, Mirai Nagasu and the Shibutani siblings, Maia and Alex, could all be potential contestants, though I wouldn’t expect to see more than one or two at the most.
ABC Orders All-Athletes Mini-Season of DWTS>>>
Other big names in the mix include snowboarder Shaun White and skier Lindsey Vonn, arguably two of the most recognizable names among U.S. athletes at the Winter Olympics.
Dancing with the Stars has featured many Winter Olympians over the years. Apolo Anton Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi and Meryl Davis were all winners, with Ohno reaching fifth place when he returned for the All-Stars season. Evan Lysacek finished in second and the show has also featured Amy Purdy, Charlie White, Nancy Kerrigan, Louie Vito and Dorothy Hamill.
If you’re keeping track, that’s a total of 10 Winter Olympians (or Paralympians) in the ballroom, two of whom were snowboarders and the others were all skaters, either in figure skating, ice dancing or speed skating. That should give you a pretty good idea of what we can probably expect.
Which Winter Olympians would you most want to see on the first-ever all-athletes edition of Dancing with the Stars? For more updates, like BuddyTV’s DWTS Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
