Dancing With The Stars fans are reacting to news of an expected addition to the cast of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition.
In a new teaser posted to the official Good Morning America Twitter account, the network teased another “surprise” for Season 29 with the news that an unexpected pro dancer will be joining the show. The “clue” to the mystery man’s identity was that he “just had a baby with the love of his life and she knows how to kick some a**.”
Artem and his DWTS partner-turned-fiancee, retired pro wrestler Nikki Bella, welcomed their first child, a baby boy, earlier this month.
While the announcement won’t be confirmed until Monday on GMA , in comments to the post, fans were convinced that the secret dancer has to be Artem.
“Guess Artem is back after all!” one fan wrote.
“Artem will single-handedly save this season!!” another added.
“You really ditched Artem then went crawling back to him! He deserved better!!!” a third wrote.
Others wondered why the network was making a separate announcement for one cast member, while other viewers expressed hope that the big news involves the host of Dancing With The Stars and not the pros.
“Tyra Banks will NOT be hosting the show and [Tom Bergeron] will be back?” one fan asked.
MONDAY ONLY ON @GMA : Guess who? Literally! We’ve got another big @DancingABC-sized surprise for you — LIVE! #DancingOnGMA #DWTS pic.twitter.com/yZxMITi0I7
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 21, 2020
The surprising tease comes a few days after the pro dancer announcement revealed that past mirrorball champ Sharna Burgess will also return for Season 29. Sharna was “let go” from the series along with Artem in 2018.
Fans know that Artem started out in the DWTS troupe and became a regular in 2014 when he was paired with actress Lea Thompson. He was let go after competing in eight seasons of the show.
The Russian-American choreographer admitted that getting cut from Dancing With The Stars was a “massive shock” to him after working for nearly 10 years on the series, as previously shared by The Inq uisitr . He reportedly found out about his 2018 firing just three days before the pros were announced, and he compared the experience to going through a breakup, per The Daily Mail.
In addition to Sharna and the soon-to-be-revealed addition, the new cast will include veterans Alan Bersten, Cheryl Burke, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Brandon Armstrong, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater, and newcomers Daniella Karagach and Britt Stewart.
For the first time ever, the celebrity contestants won’t be unveiled until the season premiere, which is on September 14.