Dancing with the Stars will likely be renewed for season 29 ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke told reporters at the Television Critics Association tour in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Jan 8).
Calling the last season “resurgent,” Burke admitted that the network hadn’t made a final decision to renew the competitive reality show, but told reporters that she expected it to return.
“The show had a terrific season, use the word resurgent for a reason,” she said.
Bachelorette Hannah Brown and pro partner Alan Bersten won the 28th season of the show when it aired last fall, beating out fellow finalists, American Idol alum Lauren Alaina (4th place), Nickelodeon star Kel Mitchell (2nd place) and X Factor USA alum and former Fifth Harmony member Ally Brooke (3rd place).
As far as last season’s big controversy over the casting of former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and his advancement to the quarterfinals despite terrible dancing, Burke was unbothered. She joked about Spicer’s ability to stay on the show. “It’s a ballroom dancing show, it’s not a political show. The contestants came with the spirit of that. The audience votes,” she added. Not mentioned: That the president, his son and other MAGA types were tweeting Sean’s numbers every week to followers who didn’t watch the show, probably. But I digress.
Meanwhile, the DWTS producer Rob Mill was shocked SHOCKED at the backlash. “I was frankly stunned that people still cared that much about Sean Spicer,” he recently told Variety. “I mean, gosh, he had been out of the public eye for about a year. But clearly I was wrong.”
“I think you never say never to anything,” Mills responded when asked about possibly casting more controversial political figures. “We would never say never to someone in politics. We would look at anything, potentially, if it were good for the show.”
Another sign Dancing with the Stars is likely returning–producers are already thinking about casting the new season. Charlie Sheen, NFL player Ryan Shazier, and Christie Brinkley. She was cast last season, but dropped out before the premiere after breaking her wrist. The supermodel’s daughter, Sailor took her place in the line up.
