‘Dancing With The Stars’ Cast Rumors: Simone Biles, Michael Phelps To Join Season 23?
Simone Biles put on a dominating performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The 19-year-old gymnastics beast from Columbus, Ohio, won a gold medal in the all-around event, vault, and floor exercise while also leading the United States to gold in the team event. If it wasn’t for a slight stumble on the balance beam, Biles would’ve gone a perfect five-for-five at the Olympics, but she had to settle for bronze.
Now America wants to know what’s next for Simone after returning from Rio.
According to ET Online, the answer may be Dancing With The Stars and competing for a mirror ball trophy.
After dominating the Olympics, Simone Biles may take on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ https://t.co/wkrn7IyaFo pic.twitter.com/7YaQjLnSlG
— Mic (@mic) August 21, 2016
Former United States gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin have appeared on Dancing With The Stars, as has Biles’ current teammate, Aly Raisman. Johnson ended up winning Season 8 of Dancing With The Stars and then returned for the All-Stars season where she finished as the runner-up. Liukin got eliminated in the semis on Season 20 and Raisman finished fourth on Season 16 of Dancing With The Stars with her partner Mark Ballas.
The only potential issue with Simone appearing on Dancing With The Stars is that she is currently contracted to appear on the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics which will appear throughout the United States from mid-September through mid-November. Even still, Biles would like to compete on Dancing With The Stars, although she points out that she may not be the greatest dancer in the world.
“I would [like to participate],” she said in a statement reported by Yahoo! “But I can’t dance.”
In addition to Simone Biles, there a number of other names being tossed around as rumors for Season 23 of Dancing With The Stars, including other Olympians, according to the ET Online report.
Michael Phelps is one of those names, although his name has been thrown around before, but he’s yet to say yes to the show. The 31-year-old is coming off of a tremendous showing at the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio as he racked up five gold medals and a silver to bring his career total to 28 total medals.
McKayla Maroney, a member of the 2012 United States women’s gymnastics team in London has also been rumored to appear on Dancing With The Stars. The 20-year-old won a gold in the team event in London and added a silver in the vault. Maroney recently started following Mark Ballas on Twitter, which has people wondering if her appearance on Dancing With The Stars is already a done deal.
Another famous face from the Rio Olympics, Katie Ledecky, has also been rumored to have drawn interest from the executives of Dancing With The Stars. Ledecky won four golds and a silver in Brazil, often dominating the competition as she staked claim to the most dominant female swimmer in the world title.
Simone Biles Might Do “Dancing With the Stars,” Will Probably Win https://t.co/H453HyTqrB pic.twitter.com/8tawUs7yCQ
— ELLE Magazine (US) (@ELLEmagazine) August 20, 2016
In a bit of a blast from the past, former Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Dominique Moceanu also finds her name on the list. Moceanu was a member of the 1996 United States women’s gymnastics team that won gold in Atlanta.
“I’d love to do it. I really would. I’ve been in the mix three times that I’m aware of,” Moceanu said in a recent interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I almost made it eight years ago, and I almost made it recently.”
The Bachelorette alum JoJo Fletcher, The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice, and 7th Heaven star Beverley Mitchell have all been rumored to be targets for Dancing With The Stars as well. The announcement of the entire Season 23 cast will happen on August 30 on Good Morning America with the season premiere to kick off on Monday, September 12.
[Photo via Alex Livesey/Getty Images]
