‘Dancing With The Stars’ Pro Watch: Season 21 Slate Shaping Up, Who’s In And Who’s Out?
Season 21 of Dancing With the Stars begins in September, and fans are anxious to know who will be dancing. The celebrity cast will be announced soon, and there are some teasers coming out ahead of time regarding the pro slate, as well. Which DWTS pros are said to be returning to the dance floor this fall?
According to Entertainment Weekly, Karina Smirnoff will be returning for Season 21 of Dancing With the Stars. Karina took Season 20 off after being with the show throughout most of its run, but it seems she’s ready to dance again.
Smirnoff admits that she’s a bit nervous about coming back after a break, though she was anxious to try some other projects. During her hiatus, Karina promoted her book, called We’re Just Not That Into You: Dating Disasters from the Trenches, and she also did a film called Tango Shalom.
Which other DWTS pros will be back competing for the Season 21 mirror-ball trophy? It should come as no surprise that both Witney Carson and Val Chmerkovskiy, the past two winners, are going to be back. Who else is said to be in for this fall DWTS season? From the sounds of things, the pro slate may look fairly similar to what viewers saw in the spring season.
PureDWTS details that Allison Holker is also returning, and it seems that Derek Hough is probably back, as well. As DWTS fans know, one can never be too sure with Derek, as he was out for Season 20 until the very last minute, and his return surprised even many on the show.
At this point, it seems pretty certain that Peta Murgatroyd, Emma Slater, and Sharna Burgess will be back, and the same can be said for Mark Ballas and Tony Dovolani. As much as many loved having Kym Johnson back in the spring, it would seem that her fall commitment as a judge to DWTS in Australia likely means she’s out.
What about Keo Motsepe and Artem Chigvintsev? Artem is featured alongside Peta in the poster for Season 21, so while that isn’t a guarantee, it seems likely he’ll be back. As for Keo, there doesn’t seem to be any solid intel on that front yet, but many expect he’ll be back, as well.
In addition to the pro and celebrity slates being on the brink of announcement, there’s been some news regarding the judging panel. Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough, and Bruno Tonioni are back, but it looks like Len Goodman is finally bidding farewell to the show. Who is set to take his place?
There’s a lot of social media chatter floating around that Latin American dance champion and TV personality Michael Wentink is involved in the new season in a judging capacity. Though nobody seems to be confirming this to be the case for certain, Wentink is retweeting a lot of posts referring to him as being the newest member of the judging panel.
PureDWTS is also noting that they’re hearing that Michael is, indeed, joining the DWTS judging panel. There’s also been some talk that Tony Dovolani might be joining the judging panel, with the buzz being that Tony was taking Len’s place, and Michael would take Bruno’s place.
However, now it’s been confirmed that Bruno is staying, so some suspect that Tony will remain in a dance pro position. One way or another, fans should be finding out concrete information on the judging panel very soon.
The DWTS pro slate will be announced Wednesday morning on Good Morning America. The celebrity cast won’t be revealed until September 2, though there have been a few rumors swirling around.
Could viewers be watching the likes of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter, Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe, and singer Andy Grammer dance this time around? All the details will emerge soon, and Dancing With the Stars fans can’t wait to get started.
[Photo by Araya Diaz / Getty Images]
