Dancing With The Stars 23 Cast Revealed – Live Blog (VIDEO)

Dancing_with_the_Stars_us_season_23_poster

Hi Everyone :D

It’s Franky here, back again for another edition of blogging Dancing with the Stars. I feel like we just bid farewell to last season’s cast, which saw Nyle DiMarco & Peta Murgatroyd walk away with the trophy. Did you have a great summer? I hope so. I hope to find you all happy, healthy, and back on board for a new season of our favorite little dancing reality-competition show. This morning, live on Good Morning America, we will have the official cast reveal.

Granted, the entire cast has been spoiled over the last few weeks, something that has happened much more frequently these past few seasons. In the age of social media, nothing stays secret for very long. Everyone pretty much knows which pros are in, out, and which celebrities are giving it a go in the ballroom. Still though, it will be nice to get the official confirmation.

As has been reported, only two actual couples will be appearing live with host Tom Bergeron this morning. The rest of the cast will come together on GMA on September 7th, ahead of the season premiere episode, which airs on September 12th. This season will see some major changes as a few pros (some who have been around for many years) are out, former regulars are back after long breaks, and even the judges table gets a reboot.

So, who is in? Who is out? And are any of your favorite celebrities gearing up to strut their stuff on the dance floor? Let’s get this reveal started and find out…

Official DWTS 23 Cast
1. Ryan Lochte & Cheryl Burke
2. Terra Jole & Sasha Farber
3. Calvin Johnson & Lindsay Arnold
4. James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess
5. Vanilla Ice & Witney Carson
6. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds & Allison Holker
7. Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko
8. Amber Rose & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
9. Laurie Hernandez & Val Chmerkovskiy
10. Marilu Henner & Derek Hough
11. Jake T. Austin & Jenna Johnson
12. Rick Perry & Emma Slater
13. Maureen McCormick & Artem Chigvintsev

1. Right at the start of GMA, anchors announced that Ryan Lochte is live on the show to discuss his scandal that happened during the Rio Olympics and his decision to join the show. They claim that DWTS producers booked him prior to everything that went down in Brazil. So with that, Ryan becomes our first officially announced celeb. As it has been reported prior to this morning, former DWTS pro Cheryl Burke (who has been absent from the show since season 19) is back and will be partnered with Lochte.

2. GMA interviews Lochte live. Lochte talks about being intoxicated in Rio, having a gun pulled on him, and making a mistake. He doesn’t know if he would consider now what happened as a robbery or extortion. He admits a gun was pulled on him but not to his head. He says his team is dealing with the legal issues surrounding the case and says he just wants to move forward. He says he will pay back his teammate, who had to pay a fine. He is apologetic to his teammates and his mother, who continues to stand by him. He says people are blowing things way out of proportion when asked if he embarrassed his country, as some people say. Now, onto DWTS. He feels being on the show is perfect because he wants to move forward. He will be back in the next hour to discuss more about being on the show.

3. Hi Tom! :) Our Emmy winning host is on hand. Tom says the show is kept fresh by the producers and staff. He just shows up. Tom is excited to see some of the old pros back because the show is like a family. Lochte is excited and says this is totally new to him. He says he can’t dance and is starting from scratch. He is going to treat it like going into the Olympics.

4. Inside the giant mirror ball that GMA has set up outside, Laurie Hernandez emerges. She is a gold medalist from the Rio games in gymnastics. Laurie is very excited to start dancing. She is called “baby Shakira”. Ryan says he will train hard and go out and go for the gold. Laurie says she will also train hard.

5. Tom races through the names of the cast. Maureen McCormick, Amber Rose, Terra Jole, Marilu Henner, Gov. Rick Perry, Jake T. Austin, Calvin Johnson, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Vanilla Ice, James Hinchcliffe, Jana Kramer.

6. Laurie is excited about the cast. Ginger brings out Laurie’s partner, her old partner, Val. Ginger gives Laurie some tips on the show and being partnered with Val. And now, Cheryl Burke arrives from inside the mirror ball. She is happy to be back. Cheryl wanted to come back because she feels inspired and wants to perform again. Ryan seems pretty pleased with her as a partner.

That’s all for the GMA reveal for this morning. On September 7th, the entire cast will be on the show. I have updated the official list up top with the pairings, which they didn’t even bother announcing on the show other than Ryan/Cheryl and Val/Laurie.

My instant feeling is that this is a relatively good cast. I see some potential winners, none with more starting potential than Laurie Hernandez. It should be interesting to see how Lochte is received by audiences. Cheryl is a very good partner for him considering the job she did on another questionable personality, Rob Kardashian a few years ago.

Marilu Henner is awesome and her partnership with Derek could echo when he danced with Jennifer Grey. Amber Rose and Maks should make, if nothing else, a dynamic pair to watch. Some interesting names from the music business with Jana Kramer (lucky girl getting to dance with Gleb), Babyface, and Vanilla Ice. I am chuckling at Vanilla Ice but we shall see.

I know nothing about Terra Jole but I always appreciate Sasha as a partner. In the acting world, we have Maureen McCormick (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia), so she should be fun. Jake T. Austin should bring in some younger viewers but I don’t know if he will really mesh with the overall demographic of this show.

Of course, sports (the Olympians) play a big role and another football star, Calvin Harris should be a decent competitor. Also, harking back to the season we had Helio, another race car driver (Mr. Hinchcliffe) is on and from what I hear, he has a great personality and is loads of fun to watch.

Finally, to add some political flavor to the show, Gov. Rick Perry. Yeah, that’s all I got on him for now. Again, we shall see.

So, interesting, wouldn’t you say? What do you guys make of the new cast? Who stands out right away? Which partnerships are you excited about? Are you disappointed with anyone? Are you upset that some usual pros such as Mark, Tony, and Edyta are not dancing this season? Sound off about any of this and anything you want in the comments. :)

Promo

https://youtu.be/xT50z9Uzo8o

GMA Cast Reveal Part 1

https://youtu.be/eJmZu0WwEhs

GMA Cast Reveal Part 2

https://youtu.be/nWVihnI3OcE