Who Is Marla Maples Of ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 22?
Donald Trump’s ex-wife Marla Maples will be part of the Season 22 Dancing With the Stars cast, and fans are definitely buzzing about this addition. Marla is said to be partnering with Tony Dovolani this spring and, from the looks of things, they will definitely have their work cut out for them. What do DWTS viewers need to know about Maples?
As PureDWTS details, Marla Maples was Donald Trump’s second wife, and they share a daughter, named Tiffany, who is 22-years-old now. Donald was married to first wife Ivana from 1977 to 1992, notes Inside Edition, but Trump had an affair with Maples during that marriage. Donald married Marla in 1993, and their daughter was born that same year. Donald and Marla’s marriage lasted for six years. The presidential candidate went on to marry third wife Melania in 2005, and they are still married.
Marla and Tiffany spent many of the years after the split living in California, though it seems that both are based back on the East Coast these days. Tiffany is said to be attending the University of Pennsylvania, and she does some modeling work. Marla very recently made a move back to New York.
There had been rumors swirling that Dovolani had a New York-based celebrity this spring, and that made some wonder if he would be with one of the Good Morning America folks. While there is a GMA cast member on Dancing With the Stars this spring in Ginger Zee, she will be dancing with Val Chmerkovskiy, not Tony.
Rather, it seems that Dovolani and Maples have been friends for years, and DWTS insiders say that he had been trying to talk her into doing the show for quite some time now. Apparently, she finally felt that the time was right.
Of course, there are a fair number of Dancing With the Stars viewer who are grumbling about there being a Donald Trump connection on this Season 22 cast. While the producers surely were thrilled to score such a contestant given the current political landscape, it seems that Tony and Marla’s long-running friendship was the catalyst for this move.
As for Maples’ background, she was born in Georgia and did some acting in her pre-Trump days. She has done quite a few brief gigs in the years since their divorce as well, though nothing necessarily all that substantial. As Marla’s IMDb page notes, she has popped up on Spin City, Funland, Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish and, more recently, Liv and Maddie. This new Dancing With the Stars contestant has also done some theater work in New York, and has a long track record of charity work.
Some DWTS fans may remember that Marla also had a radio show, called Awakening with Marla, for a while, and in 2013, she put out a spiritual album called The Endless. Early in her marriage, she created a line of maternity wear, and she had announced in 2000 that she had written a memoir titled All That Glitters Is Not Gold. However, that book never made it to publication.
'90s Oscar ready… ? #tbt pic.twitter.com/ttFOgWoECG
— marla maples (@itsmarlamaples) January 14, 2016
In recent years, Maples has mostly laid low and stayed out of the headlines. Is she eyeing a bigger return to the entertainment industry with this DWTS gig? Based on the rest of the Season 22 Dancing With the Stars cast set to dance this spring, many fans would say that Marla and Tony have quite the uphill battle to climb if they want to snag that mirrorball trophy for themselves. However, many think that this could be a fun pairing to watch, given their existing friendship.
Viewers can check out this new partnership when ABC’s next round of the dance series debuts on Monday, March 21. Do you think Marla Maples and Tony Dovolani have a shot at winning this season of Dancing With the Stars?
[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]
