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Rick Perry Joins ‘Dancing With The Stars’ After Using Show As Excuse For ‘Oops’ Moment

By Treva Bowdoin
Published on: 19:05 PST, Aug 29, 2016

Rick Perry was the first of 16 hopefuls to drop out of the lengthy reality show that was the 2016 GOP primary race, but will the former Texas governor also be the first contestant to be sent home on Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars? And has he been a fan of the ABC reality series for years?

According to Entertainment Tonight, Rick Perry is one of the latest celebrities to sign on for Dancing with the Stars. He’ll be competing against a colorful cast of contestants that includes Olympian Ryan Lochte, rapper Vanilla Ice, and retired NFL star Calvin Johnson.

Politicians are a rare sighting on DWTS. Former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer finished in sixth place during Season 3, and the last lawmaker to compete was Season 9 contestant Tom DeLay. According to People, the former House majority leader from Texas had to drop out of the show due to stress fractures on both of his feet. DeLay finished in 13th place ahead of model Kathy Ireland, singer Macy Gray, and actor Ashley Hamilton.

DeLay’s pro partner, Cheryl Burke, will be returning for Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars after sitting out the last three seasons of the show. She last competed with Donald Trump supporter Antonio Sabato Jr., but it doesn’t look like Burke will be paired up with this season’s prominent Republican. Based on the elephant clue that the official DWTS Twitter page shared, it looks like Rick Perry will be dancing with Emma Slater.

The use of the word “unforgettable” may also be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the embarrassing memory lapse that defined Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign. During a Republican primary debate, Perry attempted to list three government agencies that he wanted to eliminate, and he failed spectacularly.

“Commerce,” Perry said, according to Vanity fair. “Education, and the, uh… What’s the third one there? Let’s see.”

Rivals Mitt Romney and Ron Paul attempted to help him, but to no avail. After thinking aloud for a few more excruciating seconds, Perry gave up on completing his list. The last word he uttered was an awkward “Oops.”

Perry later attempted to turn his political gaffe into a positive by showing America that he was A-okay with poking fun at himself. As USA Today reports, he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to list the “Top 10 Rick Perry Excuses” for forgetting the third government agency that he was so gung-ho about doing away with. His No. 8 excuse involved DWTS.

“I was up late last night watching Dancing with the Stars,” Perry said.

Rick Perry didn’t let his much-mocked gaffe scare him away from running for president again four years later. However, as NPR reports, he was the first of 16 GOP candidates to drop out of the 2016 presidential race. Perry announced that he was ending his bid for the White House on September 11, 2015.

As CNN reports, Perry later endorsed fellow Texan Ted Cruz. However, when Cruz also dropped out of the race, Perry switched his allegiance to Donald Trump, a man he had previously called a “cancer on conservatism.” Politico reports that Perry has since joined Trump’s team of agricultural advisers, even though Trump once claimed that the former governor started wearing glasses “so people will think he’s smart.” CBS News reports that Perry challenged Trump to a contest to see who could do the most pull-ups, so perhaps the 66-year-old politician will actually be capable of lifting Emma Slater off of the ground during a few of their dances.

According to Salon, Trump is now touting Perry as a possible challenger for the Senate seat of another of his former GOP presidential rivals, Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

“People love him in Texas, and he was one great governor,” Donald Trump said of Rick Perry at a rally in Austin, according to the Texas Tribune.

According to the Daily Beast, Rick Perry told the ladies of The View that appearing on a reality show helped Donald Trump clinch the GOP presidential nomination, so perhaps his thinking is that appearing on Dancing with the Stars will give his own political career a boost. Tune in to see if he Texas two-steps his way into Americans’ hearts when the show airs September 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

[Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images]

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