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‘Dancing With The Stars’ Cast Includes An American Hero: Who’s Dancing With Who On ‘DWTS’ Season 21?

By Cheryl Phillips
Published on: 02:00 PST, Sep 2, 2015

Who are the celebrities and pro dancers hitting the dance floor on Dancing with the Stars Season 21? Host Tom Bergeron introduced the complete cast on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning, putting an end to the rumors about who will be competing for the Mirrorball trophy starting September 14 on ABC.

During the week prior to the big reveal, ABC released the names of nine out of the 13 celebrities who will be joining the pro dancers on stage this season. Before the complete cast and their pro dance partners were brought out on stage, Good Morning America host Lara Spencer hinted that an American hero would join the cast and showed the silhouettes of the final four contestants.

With the full cast roster (below) now revealed, viewers have just two weeks to wait until the ballroom dance competition begins. The two-night premiere is scheduled to air on September 14 and 15 starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Who’s dancing with who on Season 21 of Dancing with the Stars and who is the American Hero fans will see on the dance floor?

Alek Skarlatos, one of three Americans who courageously took down a gunman aboard a high-speed train in France, is one of 12 celebrities dancing this season. He will be dancing with pro Lindsay Arnold.

Paula Deen is one of the four cast members who was introduced on Wednesday morning. The cookbook author and former Food Network celebrity chef will be dancing with Louis Van Amstel. Despite her fallout with the Food Network, she has a huge fan base that will serve her well when the voting begins.

Legendary singer Chaka Khan is partnered with pro Keo Motsepe. The “Queen of Funk,” who is 62-years-young, has a career that spans four decades and will undoubtedly be a ball of fire on the dance floor.

Alexa Pena will be dancing with pro Mark Ballas. She is best known for her recurring role as Carmen Cortez in several Spy Kids movies.

Carlos PenaVega from Big Time Rush will be dancing with pro Witney Carson. This is the first time DWTS has featured a married couple competing on the show — Carlos and his wife Alexa married in 2014.

Animal activist Bindi Irwin will hit the dance floor with pro Derek Hough. The 17-year-old is the daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.

Vine and Twitter star Hayes Grier will be dancing with pro Emma Slater. While it’s yet to be seen if he can win the Mirrorball trophy based on his dancing skills, there is no doubt that millions of his fans will be voting for him. Reality star Kim Zolciak is partnered with Tony Dovolani. The star of Don’t Be Tardy and former cast member on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta is married to NFL player Kroy Biermann.

Also dancing this season is actor Gary Busey, who will be paired with Anna Trebunskaya. “Honey I’m Good” singer Andy Grammer will dance with Allison Holker, and Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter’s partner is Sharna Burgess.

Jockey and Triple Crown winner Victor Espinoza will be dancing with pro Karina Smirnoff, and reality star Tamar Braxton is partnered with pro and Season 20 champion Val Chmerkovskiy.

During Wednesday morning’s announcement, Bindi Irwin stated that she is more nervous about the judges than she is of crocodiles. The first husband and wife team, Carlos and Alex PenaVega, agreed that they are competitive and are excited to get on the dance floor with their pro partners. And the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan, promised to wear some show-stopping outfits on the dance floor this season.

Paula Deen flirted with both her partner Louis Van Amstel and last year’s champion, Val Chmerkovskiy, so expect some fireworks on the dance floor when the celebrity chef and cookbook author hits the dance floor in September. Nick Carter, who was not in New York for the announcement, told Tom Bergeron via live video that he hopes to get some tips from his brother Aaron who danced on Season 11.

The Dancing with the Stars two-night premiere airs September 14 and 15. Tune in to watch your favorite dance partners perform on another exciting season of ABC’s ballroom dance competition.

[Image: ABC/Twitter]

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