Dancing with the Stars casting rumors reach last-minute frenzy

Just days before Dancing with the Stars’ Tom Bergeron plans to announce the celebrity cast for Season 9 of ABC’s hit show, the rumors and speculation have reached a last-minute crescendo. Names like LaToya Jackson, Paul Abdul and Lou Ferrigno have been tossed into the rumor mill, so let’s review. Shall we?

• The swirl of attention surrounding ousted American Idol judge Paula Abdul has included Dancing with the Stars. If Abdul doesn’t return to Idol after all, ABC network executive Stephen McPherson has said publicly that he’d love to have Paula on DWTS “as a contestant, a participant or a judge.” Needless to say, Abdul has not committed.

• LaToya Jackson, the late Michael Jackson’s 53-year-old sister, said she was thinking about the show and was in serious talks with the network. But that was yesterday. On today’s network entertainment shows, LaToya said she will not be a DWTS contender, citing the Jackson family’s ongoing concerns about the investigation into MJ’s death. So no LaToya.

• Sherri Shepherd, a co-host of The View, has mentioned on the show that ABC has been courting her to join DWTS, and his week Shepherd told In Touch magazine that she would “love to do that show.” Shepherd has also lost weight and gotten into shape in the past year, leading to further speculation that she’s preparing to dance.

• Dean McDermott, Tori Spelling’s husband, has been in talks with producers of DWTS, according to E!Online. McDermott apparently was approached after producers first asked Spelling to consider the gig. “He wants to do it,” a source told E!Online. “He'd be really good at it, too.” The couple star in their own reality show, Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, on the Oxygen network.

• Lou Ferrigno, the original The Incredible Hulk star, has confirmed several times that he expects to be a contestant on Season 9. “I've never done that type of dancing before, so I know that I'll have to train hard,” Ferrigno told Life & Style magazine recently. “I'm a glutton for punishment, so I'll give it my best shot.” The bodybuilder/actor recently emerged again when it was revealed that he was Michael Jackson's personal trainer.

• Ashley Hamilton, the hunky son of DWTS alum George Hamilton, is expected to hit the dance floor in Season 9. TVFanatic reported back in July that Hamilton, 34, had signed on for the show. He has acted in several small films and appeared on the canceled NBC soap opera Sunset Beach. Hamilton has also recovered from a much-publicized battle with drug addiction.

• Debi Mazar, who plays the gritty, outspoken publicist Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage, has also been offered a DWTS contract but it’s not certain Mazar has accepted. She tweeted about the offer on her Twitter page earlier this summer.

• We reported way back in June that fashion designer Vera Wang had already signed on to compete in Season 9. Wang is not only a former figure skater, but is good friends with DWTS champion Kristi Yamaguchi.

• Who is Kurt Angle? He’s a professional wrestler and the latest reported athlete to enter the DWTS ring. Angle, a hulking world heavyweight champion for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, “has been shortlisted” for Season 9, according to The Sun. Angle’s manager says, “Just as Kurt has lightning speed, smooth, controlled and brilliant moves in pro-wrestling, this man can also dance.” Update: Angle was arrested this week on stalking and drug charges, so his chances of appearing on DWTS might now be jeopardized.

• On Aug. 4, Sharon and Ozzie’s little girl, Kelly Osbourne, wrote cryptically on her Twitter feed: “ok you guys I need some help I have been offered to do a show in the u.s. something that I never ever thought I would do should I do it?” Later, she noted that she would do the unnamed show. Pure speculation, but what the heck?

• Donny Osmond, who spilled the beans before Season 8 that he would be on DWTS, now looks more and more like a possibility, especially since he wrote this cryptic message on his Facebook page this week: "Other really cool announcements coming in a few days." Hmm...

• Aaron Carter, the sometimes troubled brother of Back Street Boy Nick Carter, also reportedly used Facebook to hint that he had been signed to do DWTS. Carter was a pop singer in the late-1990s, a star among pre-teen audiences for a time. 

• Shock jock Howard Stern's wife, Beth Ostrosky, is also on the rumor mill as a possible contestant, in large part because Stern has mentioned on his radio show that his wife is on her way to Los Angeles to participate in "a reality TV show."

Other names on the rumor mill include Nancy O’Dell, who was sidelined by injury just prior to Season 8; and Misty May Trainor, the Olympian injured midway through Season 7.

Dancing with the Stars kicks off its new season on Monday, Sept. 21. Bergeron will announce the new cast on Monday, Aug. 17, on Good Morning America.