We’re less than a month away now from the next season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and news about the celebrity ballroom dancing competition’s 19th season has begun to trickle out. In addition to the recently revealed news about Julianne Hough re-joining the show as a judge, ABC has revealed the new cast of professional dancers that will be paired up with the new celebrities.
Fans of Dancing with the Stars will recognize many of the next season’s dancers. Returning pros include Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Whitney Carson, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, Peta Murgatroyd, Emma Slater, Karina Smirnoff, and five-time Dancing with the Stars champion Derek Hough.
A few new dancers will be joining the season 19 cast as well. Allison Holker, who got her start on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance and has been working on Dancing with the Stars as a choreographer, will take the stage in the coming season. Fellow So You Think You Can Dance competitor Artem Chigvintsev has also be part of the new cast. South African dance champion Keoikantse Motsepe will also be paired up with a celebrity for this fall’s show.
The new celebrity cast for this fall’s season has not yet been announced. The stars will make their debut on Thursday, September 4 on ABC’s Good Morning America morning news program.
In addition to the dancer news, ABC this week confirmed that former Dancing with the Stars dancer Julianne Hough will be re-joining the show. The announcement confirmed the rumor that spread earlier this week that Hough will take the role of a judge in the upcoming season. Hough will become the show’s fourth judge alongside Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli.
It's official! I will be joining the lovely judges of @DancingABC this season! 🙂 http://t.co/WsIH1OzAGe
— Julianne Hough (@juliannehough) August 21, 2014
“We are delighted to welcome Julianne back to the DWTS family,” said Rob Wade, executive producer for Dancing with the Stars. “Her blend of ballroom dancing experience and unique judging ability make her the ideal choice for the show, and we are very excited to have her, Carrie Ann, Bruno, and Len on board.”