Our dancing favorites are back—easy-on-the-eyes Val Chmerkovskiy, fun Peta Murgatroyd and basically the best dancer and choreographer we've ever seen on TV: Derek Hough! We knew he couldn't resist returning for the 20th season. While we still have another few weeks until the show premieres (March 16 at 8/7c on ABC!) we're already looking forward to watching the new cast.
We're especially excited for the diversity in this year's group—okay, yes, there's the rumor that our favorite Prince Farming will be taking the stage, and we certainly won't be saying no to a little more screentime for Chris Soules... we just hope his dancing skills are a little better than his singing ones. But we're really looking forward to seeing the likes of 14-year-old Willow Shields of Hunger Games fame (dancing with Mark Ballas), Michael Sams, the first openly gay NFL football player (dancing with Peta Murgatroyd), double amputee Noah Galloway, the soldier who lost part of his left arm and left leg (dancing with Shama Burgess) and Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin (dancing with Derek Hough)—just imagine the moves she'll be able to pull off!
Here's what the rest of the cast will look like—and what we can't wait to see them bring to the show:
Rumer Willis and Val Chmerkovskiy: We think Rumer's personality will shine in a reality TV setting—oh and obviously, we're obsessed with her parents.
Suzanne Somers and Tony Dovolani: It's been too long since Suzanne has been on screen.
Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson: We're glad to see more of Herjavec, the son of an immigrant factory worker—we just hope he goes farther in the competition than Shark Tank co-star Mark Cubin did!
Patti LaBelle and Artem Chigvintsev: That "Lady Marmalade" performance? Inevitable. We're waiting for it.
Redfoo and Emma Slater: We've seen this half of the LMFAO duo hit some...interesting moves—but can he pull off the foxtrot? What we do know is that his costumes are going to be nothing short of amazing.
Charlotte McKinney and Keo Motsepe: We wonder what Val's brother Maksim Chmerkovskiy has to say about Charlotte—who's been called the next Kate Upton—being on the show...
Riker Lynch and Allison Holker: Dancing with the Stars is about to become even more of a family affair—Riker is cousins with Julianne and Derek, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out!
Who are you most excited to watch this season, collegiettes?