As scheduled, the new cast for the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars" was revealed on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.
Portions of the cast had been leaked on Monday, and indeed, Andy Dick signed on as a contestant. In addition, another rumor was confirmed: Maksim Chmerkovskiy has left the show, while his brother Val remains.
The full list of contestants and their professional partners is below (alphabetically, by celebrity).
- Zendaya Coleman (Disney Channel star, "Shake It Up") - Valentin Chmerkovskiy: Can she follow in the footsteps of co-star Roshon Fegan. Fegan finished sixth in the season 14 of "DWTS."
- Andy Dick (Comedian) - Sharna Burgess: Dick is looking for a comeback.
- Dorothy Hamill (Olympic Gold Medal Figure Skater) - Tristan MacManus: Do we need to say anything about Dorothy Hamill, who not only won an Olympic gold medal in 1976, she set a standard for hair styles during that timeframe.
- D.L. Hughley (Stand-Up Comedian) - Cheryl Burke: A member of "The Original Kings of Comedy."
- Jacoby Jones (NFL Wide Receiver) - Karina Smirnoff: Ravens fans remember he stuck a dagger in the heart of the SF 49ers at Super Bowl XLVII, although SF did come back
- Wynonna Judd (Country Music Singer) - Tony Dovolani: Appearing on "GMA" Judd said that "DWTS" has tried to recruit her for the past six years.
- Victor Ortiz (Professional Boxer) - Lindsay Arnold
- Kellie Pickler (Country singer and "American Idol" Contestant) - Derek Hough
- Ingo Rademacher ("General Hospital") - Kym Johnson: Has played Jasper "Jax" Jacks on ABC's "General Hospital" since 1996.
- Aly Raisman (Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast) - Mark Ballas
- Lisa Vanderpump ("The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," "Vanderpump Rules") - Gleb Savchenko
In addition to Maksim Chmerkovskiy, past pros Anna Trebunskaya and Chelsie Hightower won't be competing this season.
Maksim had already been rumored to be exiting the show. He issued a statement on Tuesday regarding his departure and thanking the show and his fans.
I just want to set the record straight to all of my amazing fans that I will unfortunately not be returning for this season of "Dancing with the Stars." I’ve been a pro dancer on the show for about seven years now and am eager to explore other opportunities ... I'm going to take this time to dive into producing and acting, while fulfilling my sponsorship obligations.
The Season 16 "DWTS" premiere is at 8 p.m. March 18. The first results show elimination is at 9 p.m. March 26.


















Comments