Dancing with the Stars has announced which professional dancers will be participating in the show’s upcoming 19th season. There are 12 in total, and there are some surprising omissions in the list.
The usual suspects will be there: Derek Hough, Mark Ballas, Peta Murgatroyd, Karina Smirnoff, and Val Chmerkovkiy. Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani will continue their record-breaking tenure (they’ve been on every season except the first). Notably, of those seven pros, the only one who has yet to win a Mirrorball Trophy is Val. This could be his season, as he gets the “overdue for a win” sympathy vote.
Emma Slater will return for a third season. Of last season’s new pros, the one to dance another day is Witney Carson, who made it to 9th place with Cody Simpson. Henry Byalikov, who was eliminated first, was not invited back, and looks to be a one-and-done pro.
There are to be three new pros this season: Artem Chigvintsev (a member of the Troupe last season), Keo Motsepe (from the live show Burn the Floor), and Allison Holker (from So You Think You Can Dance, was co-nominated with Derek for an Emmy).
Among the notable absences from the roster: Sharna Burgess, the spitfire who made the quarterfinals last season with Charlie White; two-time winner Kym Johnson, whose absence put a damper on the last year; current champion Maks Chmerkovskiy, the bad boy of the ballroom; and Tristan McManus, who never did get a partner with dance ability but charmed everyone nonetheless.