Season 23 of Dancing With the Stars is right around the corner, and people are dying to know who will be on the cast this time around. There is no doubt that at least one of the competitors from the Rio Olympics will be in the mix, and many suspect that one of the women’s gold medal gymnasts will be hitting the dance floor. Has news on this front accidentally been revealed?
It will come as no surprise to DWTS viewers that the show will be anxious to cast at least one, if not several, of the Rio Olympic champions this fall for Season 23. Seeing a gymnast involved would be a natural selection, given the fact that the show has had previous Olympic gymnastics stars involved before. Of course, many will be hoping to see Simone Biles hit the dance floor, and there have been rumors in the past about seeing Gabby Douglas on the show. However, a video the “Final Five”gals just did makes some suspect that one of the other ladies is planning to participate.
Is that a hint? … Is #LaurieHernandez doing #Dwts ? ( @8 :24) https://t.co/RBnRrnZNiX
— DWTSGossip (@DWTSGossip) August 17, 2016
As PureDWTS details, the Final Five did a Facebook Live video on the NBC Olympics page and one fan asked which of them will be dancing this fall. The potential Dancing With the Stars spoiler comes at the 8:20 mark, when both Gabby and Simone seem to point to Laurie Hernandez. Right after that, everybody quickly says that it’s a secret as Laurie shakes Gabby off and gives a look, with Simone seemingly not noticing what was going on behind her. Gabby seems to laugh at this, but did the group accidentally let the cat out of the bag with this one?
Adding some potential fuel to the Dancing With the Stars spoiler fire is the listing for the 2016 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions cast. Biles, Aly Raisman, and Douglas are all listed as participants, along with several other gymnasts, but Hernandez is not listed. PureDWTS also notes that Laurie has met the family of previous DWTS champion Alfonso Ribeiro, so between Alfonso and Aly’s potential influence, it is easy to see how Hernandez may have been convinced to give the show a shot.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHFqMg1DYYF/
Previous seasons have included Aly and Shawn Johnson, both of whom danced with professional Mark Ballas, along with Nastia Liukin, who danced with Derek Hough. Johnson also danced with Hough when she came back for an All-Stars season. Could Mark end up dancing with a gymnast again this season?
Ballas was tweeting quite a bit throughout the competition, cheering on Aly and the other ladies of the Final Five. Many noticed that he did tweet specifically about Laurie and joked about how she should let him know if she needs a dance teacher. One more tidbit that fans may find interesting is that Hernandez has said that Dancing With the Stars is one of her favorite shows.
I absolutely adore @lzhernandez02 just gorgeous #starpower #needadanceteacher ? ? #RioOlympics2016
— Mark Ballas (@MarkBallas) August 10, 2016
While the most obvious choice for a partner if Laurie is doing DWTS might be Mark, a good number of fans speculate that Val Chmerkovskiy could be a contender to partner with Hernandez, as well. That concept brings about some mixed feelings from dedicated viewers, though, and quite a few have tossed out the idea of Sasha Farber as the perfect partner for the petite gymnast. Sasha would be a great fit in a lot of ways, but it is not known yet whether he will be on Season 23.
Do you think Laurie Hernandez will be one of the Season 23 contestants, or will someone else from the Final Five be involved? While there is no guarantee that any of the gold medal gymnasts from the Rio Olympics will be on Dancing With the Stars this time, many fans are feeling confident that it will happen. The cast announcement is coming very soon and the new pairings hit the dance floor on ABC beginning on Monday, September 12.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJJkS46h7WR/?taken-by=lauriehernandez_&hl=en
[Photo by AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell]