"Dancing with the Stars" returns to ABC on Monday, April 30 with Season 26. For the first time in 13 years, the popular dance competition reality show will be different in at least three major ways. Longtime host Tom Bergeron appeared on "Good Morning America" on Friday, April 13. He introduced the full cast and explained what to expect in the upcoming short season.
1. Only four weeks
"American Idol" is taking up some of the 11-week schedule that has usually been reserved for "Dancing With The Stars" on ABC. Therefore, the dance competition show's airtime has been reduced to only four weeks.
No doubt it will be fast-paced with double eliminations every week.
2. All athletes
For 25 seasons, there have been celebrities from a mixture of careers. That will not be the case during the new season. All competitors are athletes, but there will still be diversity because the contestants represent different sports. The cast includes men and women's basketball players, a softball player, a baseball player, three Olympian figure skaters, an Olympian snowboarder, an Olympian luger, and a football player.
NBA Legend @kaj33 will be joining @lindsayarnold in the ballroom for #DWTS: Athletes! pic.twitter.com/Td65Ed1VN2
— Dancing with the Stars (@DancingABC) April 13, 2018
Athletes have won the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy more than contestants in other careers.
This year no one has to guess if an athlete will win again because the winner will definitely be an athlete, but fans won't know who it will be until the finale.
The ten sports winners in the past included Emmitt Smith, Apolo Anton Ohno, Hélio Castroneves, Hines Ward, Donald Driver, Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, Meryl Davis, Laurie Hernandez, and Rashad Jennings.
Dancing With the Stars athletes edition: And the celebrities are... https://t.co/dGLLqKihte
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) April 13, 2018
3. Absence of popular professional dancers
Longtime fans of "Dancing with the Stars" will not see some of their favorite professional dancers who are not returning for this season. All of them are not needed since there are only 10 competitors instead of the usual 13.
Besides, some of the pros have other assignments. For instance, Valentine Chmerkovskiy, his older brother Maksim, and Maks' wife, Peta Murgatroyd will all be on tour. Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Karina Smirnoff are not returning. Tony Dovolani hasn't been back for a while. Kym Johnson Herjavec won't be dancing because she is expecting twins by her husband, Robert Herjavev, who was her dance partner in Season 20.
All three judges are returning. Head judge Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli will be back in the ballroom. Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews are returning as hosts of the show.