Dancing With the Stars revealed the contestants for its special 26th season, which features a cast full of athletes competing to take home the mirror-ball trophy. The dancers-in-training were revealed on Good Morning America Friday morning. Previously announced cast members were Olympians Adam Rippon, Jamie Anderson, Jennie Finch, and Tonya Harding.
Rounding out the list of 10 athletes are Josh Norman, Arike Ogunbowale, Chris Mazdzer, Johnny Damon, Mirai Nagasu, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Lindsay Arnold is returning to defend her title after winning last season with musician Jordan Fisher. The professional dancers joining her are Sharna Burgess, Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Jenna Johnson, Gleb Savchenko, Artem Chigvintsev, Keo Motsepe, Alan Bersten, and Sasha Farber.
Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli will be back at the judges’ table, and Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews will return as hosts.
It’s not surprising the ABC competition series is focusing on athletes this season given the continued success of athletes on the show such as past winners Emmitt Smith, Apolo Anton Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, and Laurie Hernandez.
The new season of Dancing With the Stars premieres April 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. This season will be the shortest to date for the series, lasting only four weeks with double eliminations every week.
The full pairings are below:
- Adam Rippon with Jenna Johnson
- Arike Ogunbowale with Gleb Savchenko
- Chris Mazdzer with Witney Carson
- Jamie Anderson with Artem Chigvintsev
- Jennie Finch Daigle with Keo Motsepe
- Johnny Damon with Emma Slater
- Josh Norman with Sharna Burgess
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Lindsay Arnold
- Mirai Nagasu with Alan Bersten
- Tonya Harding with Sasha Farber
