DWTS Season 11 Cast – Rumors, Innuendo and Campaigns
Ahhh…less than a month until the cast announcement (most likely). This is when it starts to get a bit fun, and tiring. We have campaigns out the wazoo, random (and possibly baseless) rumors, and comments that make you go whut? This is also the time of year that I do a rumor round up. Well, guess what? The producers are on to people like me – and have pretty successfully clamped down on the loose celebrity lips that marked DWTS two seasons ago. So, more than anything, we have people begging to be on the show and not many real rumors. I do have a really random, based on absolutely nothing rumor – and that is Kurt Warner. A couple people on twitter asked him if he was doing DWTS this season; he didn’t answer and I couldn’t find any reason as to WHY they would be asking him such a thing – so it’s likely nothing. Isn’t he still playing football?? Maybe they are being mean to him and I didn’t get it. 
I’m much too lazy (it’s, like, 500 degrees here) to research what is likely baseless. At least a couple of the tweets claimed they were “seriously” asking the question.
First things first – I also usually recap rumors from previous seasons, because sometimes it takes a few seasons for something to come true. I’ll do that in a follow-up post, as this one is already kind of long. New rumors for this season, all of which I’ve already written about, are few and far between thus far:
Arianny Celeste – UFC Ring Girl
Xzibit – Rapper. I doubt this one. The offer may have been made, but it doesn’t sound like he’s going to do it.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino – I don’t know if this is a rumor or wishful thinking…but remember I said the same thing about Kate Gosselin. 
Landon Donovan – US Soccer team. This is another one that keeps popping up.
Chris Jericho – WWE Wrestler and host of the show Downfall (an ABC show, which bodes well for him in the future).
The campaigns for this season are numerous and, in some cases, extraordinarily annoying. Lay off the Twitter, Johnny Weir fans, PLEASE. Most of you campaigners should take notes from the Martha Byrne fans, although they could lighten up a bit on the twitter too. Here’s a break down of the campaigns I know about:
Nancy Lee Grahn – actress (General Hospital)
Leslie Jordan – he’s been working on this since before Season 10; he’s started a Facebook Campaign Page.
Greg Louganis – still has a minor campaign going. Greg was driving his campaign last season, don’t know if he still is.
Antonio Sabato Jr – relatively new campaign, with relatively annoying fans. Antonio is on board with this one.
Tenley Molzahn (The Bachelor) has a little campaign that fans started for her, but she’ll be quite happy if they succeed.
Pete Wentz?!?! Could he really want this? Well, his fans have started a petition.
Shelley Martinez – female wrestler who has been campaigning for a good bit and is still going strong.
Martha Byrne – soap actress. This is the strong, non-annoying campaign.
Johnny Weir – Olympic Ice Skater, with Karina Smirnoff in his corner. I kid you not a few of his fans were tweeting THE SAME THING several hundred times a day, before they realized they were bugging the ever living hell out of a good number of people. I’m not even exaggerating in the slightest. I actually feel sorry for ABC’s various twitter accounts because I guarantee they saw nothing but Johnny for days on end. NOT HELPFUL.
Bern Nadette Stanis – Thelma from Good Times
Melissa Peterman – actress (Reba). Melissa has a few fans who have been tweeting ABC; nothing on the level of Johnny Weir or Martha Byrne.
Amy Schmolt – Model (True Beauty). Amy was on a show I hate with the passion of a thousand burning suns. It’s just bad. She tweeted this earlier today:
Tune in later this week, when I recap rumors from previous seasons that could still happen. Sig Hansen, for one.
Aaaaand cue the insanity! LOL. Why do I get the sinking feeling that this post is going to bring out some of the more overzealous campaigners? Lord help us. Please, boys and girls, for the sake of Heidi & I’s sanity – no using this post as a launch pad to promote [insert celebrity here]‘s campaign to get on the show, no inciting fan wars, and for the love of all things holy…no incoherent rambling about conspiracy theories or over-punctuated spam. I think my head might implode
Anyway, I do agree that Martha Byrne’s fans are some of the better campaigners – non-intrusive, coherent, and creative (they’ve done some cute youtube videos). Sabato & Weir campaigners take note: THAT is how a campaign should be done.
Not that I think campaigning of any kind works for DWTS…if anything, I think it almost deters the producers from casting that particular celeb. But times they are a changin’, and we’ll see – maybe this year one of these will actually work. I’m rooting for you, Martha Byrne fans…you’re doin’ it right
Kurt Warner actually retired from football in January, so there’s nothing really stopping him. He’s got some big Christian charity he founded, so some exposure outside of the football world could come in handy.
I’m still in total agreement that some US soccer star will be on the show. I just think Landon Donovan is just to big of a name.
Can we please have Xzibit and Melissa Peterman on the show??? Xzibit is hysterical (anyone watched Pimp My Ride?). I loved Melissa Peterman on Reba. She made the show funny.
Hmmm….I’m starting to think about the Kurt Warner one a bit more seriously now, thanks to Howard.
If he just started a big charity, what better way to get it visible than to go on DWTS? Combine that with his total non-denial and refusal to even address the question and….well, I gotta wonder. 
If I remember correctly, he’s one of the hot QB’s. I say yes. 
Princess Heidi– Happy to help with the rumor mill. I’m probably like the only person to follow both football & DWTS. LOL.
He actually also made an appearance on Disney Channel’s Suite Life on Deck as well, so he is familiar with the Disney/ABC family as well.
Add me to the Kurt Warner bandwagon! It does make sense for the reasons both Heidi & Howard point out. And they always seem to have a spot in the celeb lineup for an NFL star…in the spring season they can get away with a current player (like Ochocinco or Jason Taylor), but in the fall season when football’s in full-swing, they tend to pull out the hall-of-famers & other retired players. Maybe Kurt could fulfill this season’s NFL quota
He is a looker, after all…here he is with wifey, who ain’t bad lookin’ either:
http://pigskinlovinglady.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/brenda-kurt-warner.jpg
I would like to see Kurt on there (im a Steelers fan but have alot of respect for him), plus my mom and I watch the show together most nights and she is a huge fan of his (for things he has done off the field).
I can definitely see Kurt Warner on the show. It’s the perfect thing for him since he’s recently retired, but wants to keep his profile up to help his other projects. I think he would be VERY POPULAR on the show, and if he can dance, a contender for the win. Men and women love the football players in general, and Kurt has the looks and personality to really appeal to the voters. I’ll take him over Ochocinco any day!!
I cannot imagine Pete Wentz wanting to be on DWTS?! This rumor is very shocking to me, probably just a few fans wanting it, not him.
Melissa Peterman is very funny (sometimes a bit over the top & annoying) and is just the type of personality ABC likes to spice things up. But I think she’s like 6 feet tall isn’t she? She looks it on tv.
Just saw this on People.com… I guess it’s “official” that Julianne won’t be back next season.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20405654,00.html
– [about boyfriend Ryan Seacrest] “He can groove,” reveals the country singer, who says she won’t be returning to the ballroom next season since she’ll be filming the Footloose remake. –
@ck410 – I guess since they couldn’t get one Hough to star as the male lead, they asked another Hough to be the female one! Hahahaha. Good for Julianne, although I was sorta looking forward to having her back on the show this season…especially since Corky was overheard saying at the end of May that there was an 80% chance she’d be back this season. This must have been a last-minute development, but it’s a good one
Although I wish she’d get rid of the ‘crest. He’s smarmy to me, and wayyyyy too old for her…blech 
News of Footloose must have been settled after they casted the lead. She was signed on the film for awhile but the project was in limbo for a while. If it was still in limbo, I am sure she would have come back. No better publicity for her new album than DWTS!
Oooh, Kurt Warner is a great choice! He will be popular. I know his wife is polarizing but she is not the one competing, ha ha!
Yeah, Julianne really should get rid of smarmy Seacrest.
Yeah, I figured Jules was doubtful when they announced that movie was FINALLY going into production. Bad timing. I’m still bitter about this movie. Derek had a shot, but they wanted a bigger name. They started with Chase Crawford after they couldn’t get whatshisface from High School Musical (someone who could, you know, actually sing and dance), so then they cast Julianne. Well Chase drops out due to scheduling but they still have Julianne so Derek can’t do it. Annoyed. Derek would have been perfect and he wanted it too. At least, according to all his friends. Frankly, I don’t see Julianne as the lead – it will certainly test her acting chops. She seems too sunny to play Lori Singer’s part. She seems more like “Rusty” to me – the Sarah Jessica Parker role.
Well, Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) said “sorry, you’ll have to wait and see….” among other things to a rather direct question about DWTS on the 26th (yesterday). I’m thinking he’s actually on the long list.
Oooh, Kurt Warner might be a possibility! The show loves NFL stars so he probably is filling the NFL spot. I am not that interested in the other names. How tall is Kurt? Anna just went to the finals so I doubt she will be with Kurt. Cheryl already had two NFL stars as a partner. Kym won recently but she was off last season so maybe her. Edyta? She had an early exit last season. Lacey seems too immature for Kurt.
I think Tony will have a good partner or at least decent. He deserves it after Kate. But if he gets a hot girl with little fan base and has an early exit, I do not want to hear he was screwed. Derek’s had plenty of pretty/hot girls and people scream favoritism over those pairings. It amazes me how Mark escapes criticism because besides Kim Kardashian, he has had pretty good partners. Maybe it is because he has early exits.
I am curious who will fill the old sitcom star spot and the pop star spot. Recently it has been Toni, Lil Kim, Mya and Nicole.
I am excited about the Kurt Warner rumor but can we get athletes from another sport? Ice hockey?
I think Tony needs to shut UP.
He seems to have forgotten the very recent Melissa Rycroft with whom he went to the final three. It’s not like he’s Jonathan. Louis can shut it too – he took Kelly to final 4. Buncha whiners. Jonathan is the one who has reason to complain, but you don’t hear it from him.
Louis took Kelly to F3. Have you already forgotten that it was Derek and Joanna who were robbed and finished 4th?
And Louis made F5 with Niecy. He’s had two very good seasons recently. But I think he just enjoys bitching for the sake of it!
I read on TWOP that Nikki Blonsky is rumored. I don’t know where this rumor originated. She is a bigger girl, but she can dance very well in the films I’ve seen her in. She’s also apparently on a show on ABC Family, so she may have an in.
I think Nikki would be fun with Mark. Louis has a pretty good record. He also went to the top four with Monique. He was so bitter after Nicole won that I lost respect for him. He had no problem with Mya when she was with his boy Dimitry. I am cutting Tony some slack because who would not want to vent after working with Kate Gosselin. Not agreeing with him. Maks wins the whining mirror ball trophy though.
Nikki starred in Hairspray (I think) – a singing AND dancing role.
Being a bigger girl does not preclude being a ringer. But Nikki has a show on TV right now – one of the lesser networks. I can’t imagine she’d also do DWTS since the fall season would overlap with the filming of most series.
Ooops – didn’t see your comment DJ before I made my last one.
Yeah, Louis is on my shit list right now – he sounded SO ANGRY when talking about Nicole winning that I can’t believe he’ll still have a job. Maks was kinda bad, but really Tony and Louis take the cake – lately Maks has been the soul of discretion. 
Oh I agree with John – Maks is still very much on my shit list, and I was once a big fan. He was awful during the season. I won’t be supporting he or Louis.
Nikki was also in High School Musical and danced circles around Ashley Tisdale and most of the other “stars.” She’s a good dancer. I could see her being another Sabrina type. They have similar personalities too.
@DJ– Nikki wasn’t in High School Musical. That amazingly talented dancer is actually Kaycee Stroh. She could make an amazing contestant IMHO. She recently did Celebrity Fit Club and is probably looking for some work.
They do like really similar though. They could be sisters!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaycee_Stroh
Shelley Martinez? YEAH, I can see her being matched with Maksim C. That would be something to see! They both have strong personalities and Maks definitely has “a way” with the Latin Dances that might appeal to her. The more I think about this match-up the more I like it.
First confirmation!…. ?
http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/29/troy-aikman-dancing-with-the-stars-abc-announcement-dallas-cowboys/
I saw it, ck – and I’m on it. But even TMZ isn’t sure if he’s serious.
I would LOVE to see Melissa Peterman on DWTS!!!! she is a funny gal! and i know she’ll win.
I bet she’s the best dancer everrrrr! 
PLEASE GET MELISSA PETERMAN ON DWTS!!!! DO IT FOR HER FANS!!
Melissa Peterman would be an awesome choice for DWTS! She is talented, funny, and such a nice person…not to mention, have you seen them long dancing legs? Go Melissa…”Break It Down Mary”!
[...] Kurt Warner I mentioned as a possible celeb a week or two ago – and now it’s hit the mainstream press. I really, REALLY want this one to be true. It’s looking pretty good. I got the below from Reality TV World, but they credit the Washington Post, although they don’t link to the story. Kurt Warner will be among Dancing with the Stars’ eleventh-season competitors this fall, the Washington Post reported Monday. [...]
[...] Remember way back when when I talked about the rumor of Xzibit being on the show this season?? I talked about it in this post and this post. [...]