‘Dancing With The Stars’ Pro Derek Hough Heading To ‘Dirty Dancing’? Rumors Swirl ‘DWTS’ Will Star Opposite Abigail Breslin

ABC is in the process of doing a remake of the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey movie Dirty Dancing, and some new rumors are swirling about the cast. Abigail Breslin is already attached to the film, but is a Dancing With the Stars fan favorite about to be cast alongside her? That’s the buzz making the rounds, and DWTS fans definitely seem to like this idea.

As the Hollywood Reporter shared earlier this month, ABC is joining the fun of televised musical remakes with their eye on a Dirty Dancing show. This news comes soon after NBC’s The Wiz event scored enormous ratings and praise. NBC’s previous live musical events of Peter Pan and the Sound of Music also garnered big ratings, so seeing ABC follow suit with the concept isn’t a shocker.

Abigail Breslin (@yoabbaabba) is set to star in an upcoming #DirtyDancing remake! https://t.co/ixjZHjUNLS pic.twitter.com/v11aA43ue9

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) December 9, 2015

Abigail Breslin of Scream Queens and Little Miss Sunshine has been cast as Baby, the role originally played by Jennifer Grey. Who will take on Swayze’s iconic role of Johnny? So far, nothing more regarding casting has been made official. However, as soon as the project was announced, many started envisioning Dancing With the Stars pro Derek Hough in the role.

Now, the buzz about Derek as Johnny is escalating a bit. DWTS fans of Derek’s have already been talking about this, but now gossip columnist Billy Masters is taking things a step further. He claims that ABC is pursuing the project specifically to feature Hough in it. Masters claims that he was the first to break the news about NBC pursuing the Wiz remake, so that makes some wonder if he has the goods on this project as well.

Hough never has any trouble keeping himself busy, and he seems to love having it that way. He was spending time in Australia with DWTS Season 21 winner and former partner Bindi Irwin after their season wrapped, and now he and bestie Mark Ballas have moved on to Fiji. As Pure Derek Hough notes, there is a lot of speculation swirling that Derek might be involved in the upcoming Broadway production of Singing in the Rain, although Hough fans have been disappointed to hear that Julianne and Derek will not be doing a summer MOVE tour in 2016.

Given everything on Derek’s plate right now, would there be room for this Dirty Dancing remake? Obviously, when it comes to this Dancing With the Stars pro, where there is a will, there is a way. The timing of these potential projects hasn’t been publicly nailed down yet. In addition, at this point, it is unknown whether Derek will head back for either of the 2016 seasons of DWTS. He loved doing the New York Spring Spectacular show last spring, so fans could definitely seem him jumping at the opportunity to do the Singing in the Rain project and seeing him juggle multiple projects at once is nothing new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rw2WwwwgtY

Derek has tackled dances inspired by both Dirty Dancing and Singing in the Rain in recent seasons of Dancing With the Stars, so it is easy for fans to see him embracing both opportunities should they be available to him. Will the timing work though? Folks will have to stay tuned for a bit yet on that front. While the choice of casting Abigail Breslin in the role of Baby has garnered mixed reviews, support for Derek Hough as Johnny seems to be a winner so far.

According to Deadline, ABC’s Dirty Dancing will not be a live show like NBC’s TheWiz, so that would seemingly indicate some flexibility in timing. While the production team seems to be in place, Breslin is the only on-camera talent announced so far. Will Dancing With the Stars fans get the opportunity to embrace Derek Hough starring alongside Breslin, or will the production go in a different direction?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b071yybTG5M

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]