Dancing With The Stars Seasons 29 Cast Revealed

We now know who will be waltzing into the ballroom when Dancing With the Stars returns on September 14th. Tiger King star Carole Baskin, Grammy award winning rapper Nelly, Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis, Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause, former NBA star Charles Oakley, and Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir were among the fifteen celebrities unveiled for season 29. Joining them in the quest for the mirrorball trophy are actress Anne Heche, The Real’s Jeannie Mai, Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalf, Cheer’s Monica Aldama, Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson, One Day at a Time’s Justina Machado, and Catfish’s Nev Schulman. Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and The Bachelorette’s Kaitlyn Bristowe were previously announced. ABC officially revealed the full lineup on Good Morning America.

The professional dancers include Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Artem Chigvintsev, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart. The pairings have yet to be confirmed. One of the season’s most intriguing contestants is Baskin, a big-cat rights activist, who became a household name after appearing in the Netflix NFLX -0.7% docuseries which premiered in March 2020. During the GMA live announcement, Baskin admitted that she saw this as an opportunity to set the record straight about her polarizing portrayal during Tiger King. “Well Tiger King really glamorized animal abusers and villainized me for trying to stop animal abuse and so I felt really betrayed by that but what amazed me was how many people believed that false portrayal of me without doing anything to find out who I really am. So it’s been a nightmare since Tiger King aired.” When asked if she thought the show could rehabilitate her image she said, “I really hope so and the biggest thing for me is that the longer my partner and I can stay in the running and in the competition, it will keep the cats forefront in the viewers’ eye and to me that was where Tiger King missed the ball. It really should have been focused on the animals and so I’m hoping Dancing With the Stars will do that.” Baskin is also focused on the battle for the mirrorball. “I am competitive but I'm competitive with myself. I want to do the very best that I can possibly do.” Tiger King was a hit for Netflix, with 64 million households viewing within a month of its debut 34 million of which watched in the first 10 days alone. The show was one of the streaming service’s most popular in recent history and sparked feverish conversation on social media. DWTS could use some of this buzz going into the new season. The show is looking to bounce back from a steady decline in ratings, particularly in the much coveted 18 - 49 demographic viewership which is down 38% since 2017. DWTS, which debuted in the summer of 2005, enjoyed its best season ratings wise in its third season with a 5.4 rating although season five remains the most watched, amassing 20.604 million viewers. Last season ended with the lowest numbers across the board in its 15 year run with a 1.1 rating and an average of 7.998 million viewers. This season Tyra Banks takes over hosting duties from Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews. She also joins Andrew Llinares as an executive producer.