‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 23 Will See Return Of Pros Julianne & Derek Hough, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
There will be some familiar faces from seasons past when Dancing With The Stars returns for the next go-round on ABC.
Season 23 will see the return of pros Derek and Julianne Hough, who last appeared in 2015. Derek will be back as a pro and Julianne will serve as a judge. Also returning is pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, He last appeared in 2014 when he and Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis won the mirrorball trophy in Season 18.
Also returning are Season 22 pros Witney Carson, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Lindsay Arnold and Sasha Farber
Julianne Hough, a former pro dancer on the show, is expected to be joined at the judge’s table by Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman, who judged with Hough the past two iterations of the ballroom dance competition series.
Chmerkovskiy broke the news of his return on ABC’s Good Morning America, which has been ABC’s Dancing news clearinghouse for years. Otherwise, ABC’s been mum on all casting issues with regard to the primetime dance program, per usual, so as to have a big a reveal as possible on GMA.
But this season’s Dancing staffing speculation has been entirely eclipsed by news Ryan Lochte, Olympic gold medalist and Rio Public Enemy No. 1, is joining the hoofer competition. And that Dancing storyline got 20% more interesting yesterday with word that Rio authorities have charged Lochte with falsely reporting a crime. The 12-time Olympic medalist will be summoned to Rio, CNN said, citing Tourist Support Special Precinct officials. If convicted, Lochte could face one to six months in jail – or the judge could slap him with a hefty fine, CNN said, noting there would be no negotiations in that case – unlike the scene at the gas station during the Rio Olympics, in which Rio authorities say the gas station security guard who pulled a gun on Lochte and the other Olympians was merely negotiating payment for their having pissed in the bushes and torn down a poster. Lochte originally told NBC’s Billy Bush a robber had pulled them over as they rode in a taxi early in the morning, and put a gun to his head. He drastically changed that account in a later interview with Matt Lauer, explaining he’s “over-exaggerated” and was “intoxicated” at the time.
The new season of Dancing With The Stars premieres Monday, September 12, at 8 PM on ABC.
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