The cast of the next season of “Dancing with the Stars” was finally confirmed on “Good Morning America”on Friday. It’s an All-Athlete season, and here are the 10 couples competing…
1. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, dancing with Jenna Johnson.
2. Notre Dame basketball star Arike Ogunbowale, dancing with Gleb Savchenko.
3. Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer, dancing with Witney Carson.
4. Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson, dancing with Artem Chigvintsev.
5. Former Olympic softball player Jennie Finch Daigle, dancing with Keo Motsepe.
6. Former baseball player Johnny Damon, dancing with Emma Slater.
7. Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, dancing with Sharna Burgess.
8. Former NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, dancing with Lindsay Arnold.
9. Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu, dancing with Alan Bersten.
10. Former Olympic figure skater (and alleged Nancy Kerrigan attack accomplice) Tonya Harding, dancing with Sasha Farber.
The season premieres on April 30th on ABC.
For what it’s worth, Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale needed special permission to compete, since NCAA rules forbid athletes from making money off their likeness.
She’s the first active NCAA athlete to compete on the show. She will be able to receive prize money…since the show is unrelated to her NCAA “basketball abilities.”
But she still has to follow the rules. Arike will not be allowed to participate in commercial promotions for “Dancing with the Stars”, because they’d essentially be promoting her likeness.
(You can see photos of all the couples, here.)
(By the way, Kareem had the stomach flu and vomited backstage before meeting the press on Friday, but he’s okay.)