DWTS Season 12 – Sneak Peek Into New Dancing With The Stars Cast In Rehearsal
So many cool rehearsal photos released yesterday of some of our couples. I thought I’d post a few fun takes.
First up, Romeo and Chelsie. Romeo remarked the other day to PopTv that he’d rather wear his tennis shoes versus the goofy dance shoes they’ve insisted he wears. But, it looks likes he’s working it out nicely. Then again, you never know. Pictures can be deceiving. lol
It looks like Chris is trying to get Cheryl to wrestle here instead of dance. 
I’m wondering if Sugar Ray and Anna have the Fox Trot as their first dance since it looks like they are working on his posture? I bet Sugar is finding out he better submit and do whatever this fiery Russian red hair says. Anna is not about to take orders from anyone …including a former world champion boxer. 
The pics above and more can be found at BroadwayWorld.com. More at BuddyTV.com and Zimbio.
Hollywood Life also caught up with a show insider who gave us a sneak peek into rehearsals. You are going to love this. This is good. Read on.
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy:
“These two might bump heads as the show moves on, he is working her pretty hard, and you can see she is not use to the level of dance discipline that Maksim expects. But she is happy that she has him as her partner. It is for sure a work in progress.”
Kendra Wilkinson and Louis van Amstel:
“She has rhythm and has been laughing a lot, she has that Kendra spunk and charm. They currently are working well with each other, she is having lots of fun. Her dance skills are not too shabby.”
Kendra’s mom, Patti, tells us, “I am thrilled with Kendra’s news [about DWTS], but I will not be in the audience.”
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas:
“Watch out for these two, Chelsea is in it to win it and Mark Ballas and her have hit it off.”
Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani:
“Wendy is not the best dancer in the world, but Tony’s patience has really helped a lot so far. Tony has his work cut out for him.”
Petra Nemcova and Dimitry Chaplin:
“Dimitry is so happy with Petra as his partner, he has hit the lottery in the looks department. Dimitry is really by the books, so their practices have been structures and very by the book. Petra hasn’t really shown how good of a dancer she is as Dimitry is more of an idea man before he puts it on the dance floor.”
Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke:
“Chris is in shape and can move and Cheryl could not be happier, she is whipping him in to dancing shape and he is picking it up very fast.”
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower:
“Romeo is leaps and bounds better then his dad was on the show and you can see Chelsie is very relieved. Her energy really has brought out something in Romeo.”
Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer:
“Mike knows that he has a target on his back and he is trying really, really hard. Lacey has been really determined and has got into Mike’s head that he has a chance.”
Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya:
“Sugar Ray has great footwork but needs a little more dance practice, he seems a bit too stiff currently but he is really listening to Anna and is willing to put in the work. He is still in pretty good shape.
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson:
“We have the dark horse, Hines is really good.”
Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff:
“Ralph might be the Jerry Springer of the show this year, he is so nice, but might not be the best dancer in the world. His attitude towards the process really is going to show and probably get him some votes.”
Special thanks to PureDWTS readers Eavan and Karla for the help with this post!!! 
xxx
I love that pic of Romeo & Chelsie. Good to see him smiling & having a good time…I was afraid he was gonna be too serious & stiff like his dad. Now I feel a little bit better about those two, seeing how well they’re clicking
I wonder if Cheryl & Chris are already doing a little bit of paso doble – that almost looks like a paso move. Or maybe Cheryl is just getting Chris to work on connection – a lot of push/pull exercises in order get that “just right” amount of pressure.
Sugar Ray has the sweetest face here. Very “teddy bear-ish”…like he’s just eager and willing to learn. Awwww.
These pics are great but im dieing to see some of Wendy and Tony and Kristie and Maks rehearsing.
Nice pics! Hope they will post more.
I don’t even know most things about dance and I thought cheryl was doing a paso move – so aggressive looking. But they wouldn’t have that as a first dance would they??
Sugar Ray looks like he’s really into this – perhaps the middle age crowd will kick some butt…
I’m calling it right now: Ralph goes home first. He’s going to be a terrible dancer and people never seem to vote for Karina.
Ralph has a lot of supporters though. He might dance as well as Jennifer but I don’t think he will leave first. I think if Sugar Ray doesn’t charm, he can go first. Or Petra. Models not paired with Derek have gone home in the first few weeks.
Im just glad everyone gets two chances this season.
I have to disagree with you Ron. I don’t think Ralph will go home first. He seems to be getting a lot of support and I am hearing he is a super nice person who is charming and I think the voters will like that. I think the person who might not fair well due to lack of fan base and a pro who does not have much tv personality is Petra and Dmitry.
I agree Lisa. I have a feeling Ralph is going to surprise a lot of people out there. He had some pretty tough moves he had to learn for the Karate Kid movies and rose to the challenge. You just wait.
I couldn’t agree more, Vogue – I think Ralph is going to surprise us. Although he did have that deer in the headlights look in his promo photo. But then, Wendy looked pretty wobbly when she was waltzing with John O’Hurley. We’ll just have to see. It’s one of the things we love about this show, right? – you never can tell what someone will bring to the floor. I’ll be very interested to see some of the rehearsal video’s – hopefully some will be available prior to the premier. I can’t remember when we first saw any in past seasons – was it after the start? I’m starting to get really excited now … I really do like everyone’s chances this season. So far anyway, without having seen a single dance step
Here’s the thing for me – I pretty much like everybody, pro or star. It’s all good! (But I am really looking forward to cheesecake awards and that who wore it better, etc.)
Wendy was doing pretty good when she Waltzed with John to me. You also have to consider she was wearing 6 inch heels.
Sorry, you are all going to get tired of hearing this from me, because I am probably going to correct people a gazillion times until elimination, but…..
Zach, don’t mean to pick on you….
It’s KIRSTIE, not Kristie!
And Jay, the first thing I thought of, when I saw the promo pics is,”YAY! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHO WORE IT BETTER!!!” I definitely recognized some of the outifts… At least one definite….
And wasn’t that an unusually quick turn around to send out the promo pics? Isn’t it longer usually, between the promo photo shoots and the release?
I agree with you Zach. I have this sinking feeling that Wendy IF she stay around long will be like Kelly Osburne. Not the greatest dancer at first but improves week in and week out. Idk I could be wrong.
I wanna see some rehearsal pics of Kirstie and Maks and Wendy and Tony!! I cannot WAIT for the footage
Linde: “We’ll just have to see. It’s one of the things we love about this show, right? – you never can tell what someone will bring to the floor.”
YEP!!!
And if I remember right, various entertainment sources started posting videos of the rehearsals a week or so before show last Season. I hope they do the same this Season. Like you, can’t wait!
Lori: “And wasn’t that an unusually quick turn around to send out the promo pics? Isn’t it longer usually, between the promo photo shoots and the release?”
I was surprised to see them posted so soon too. I didn’t think they’d do so until next week.
@Lori – Thank you for pointing out the correct spelling of Ms. Alley’s first name! It’s been bugging me how so many people have been mispelling (and mispronouncing) it on Twitter, in blogs, etc. It’s kinda visually confusing to me because when I see “Kristi”, I think of Kristi Yamaguchi & get all discombobulated.
As for the WWIB – it’s on its way
The pictures have been compiled & my part of the commentary is done – I’m just waiting on the princess to finish her part. I’m wondering if you and I recognized the same costume right off the bat – for me it was Petra’s, and I am proud to say that I actually recognized it from the tiny bit of it peeking out from under the robe she was wearing in the pix she Tweeted on Wednesday 
Yes, I am a costume dork.
As for the turn-around – it may have seemed quick, but it was actually on the same timetable as last season: cast announcement on Monday, pair announcement on Wednesday, pictures came out on Friday of the same week. I guess they do the best they can to capitalize on all the hype & excitement of the cast announcement, and drag it out for an entire week
Greg: “I wanna see some rehearsal pics of Kirstie and Maks and Wendy and Tony!! I cannot WAIT for the footage”
You and me BOTH!
I wasnt sure on that Linde! Thx! Greg, you might be right because she has the desire and as ive learned with sports, thats half the battle.
I just saw a picture of Mark and Chelsea in the studio that was tweeted by one of them (u guys prob already saw this pic). But Chelsea is wearing flip flops and she looks to be as tall or a little bit taller than Mark. Are they like the same height? Looks to me like she will be taller than Mark when she wears heels. I guess there is nothing wrong with that. He and Bristol were the same size also. =P
Realistically, Kirstie, Wendy and the wrestler can’t go all the way. Sugar Ray and Hines Ward are great athletes who drew excellent partners in Anna and Kym. I think they can last for some time if they connect with the audience.
@Bruce – I agree with you about Kirstie & Wendy, but what makes you so certain that Chris doesn’t have what it takes to win? I actually think he stands a better chance than Sugar Ray, Ralph, & Mike – he’s younger than Ralph & Sugar Ray, more athletic than Ralph, & more well-known than Mike. He also got (statistically speaking) the most successful female pro, and seems extremely excited to be on the show, which will likely equate to a strong motivation to do well. I wouldn’t write him off just yet. I think Romeo will probably be the one to beat on the guys side, & Hines may have the strongest fanbase of the guys, but I think Chris has the potential to give them a run for their money if he’s likeable & works hard.
@Elmari, Mark is one of the shorter male pros. Look at Mark with Shawn! And she was short! I bet Chelsea will be taller than Mark with heels because she is 5’7”. She might wear shorter heels because of their height difference. Or not. Macy Gray danced with Jonathan and she seemed taller. Based on the height issue, I bet Chelsea would have been Derek’s partner if he was on season 12. Then I guess maybe Kendra would have gone to Mark? Maybe Dmitry was brought in this season since Derek sat out but there a lot of taller women. Petra is too tall for Derek so maybe Louis benefitted the most from Derek sitting out.
Courtney. I was thinking Kendra’s, it’s been used recently in Hong Kong, right?
And yes, statistically speaking, Cheryl is the winningest female pro still on our version, but Kym DOES match her on win totals, because she won when she was on DWTS in Australia. Which makes her the only Pro to be DWTS Champion in more than 1 country.
Elmari, this is why I think Derek would have had Chelsea had he been on this season – Mark is the same height as Chelsea or an inch taller. In heels she’ll have him.
Yeah, I agree Melissa – assuming the producers would have cast the same people if Derek HAD been on the show, then I think Louis would have been the one sitting out, not Dmitry.
And yes, thanks to a Derek fan you can get a REALLY good view of Kendra’s dress here: http://www.purederekhough.com/2011/02/27/derek-on-2020-march-11th/
@Lori – I honestly don’t know about the dress being used in Hong Kong. I’d have to have Heidi dig up the Hong Kong pix to be sure. It’s possible, since the pros do seem to borrow from the Randall costume stash for outside performances.
As for Cheryl & Kym – I know Kym has also won in Austrailia, but I’m actually not just taking mirror ball trophies into account. Cheryl has also been to the finals 2 additional times (so has Kym), but has also been to the semi finals twice and the quarter finals once. Kym has only been the quarter finals once, and has had 2 partners that have been the first ones eliminated on their respective seasons. Cheryl seems statistically more likely to take her partner further in the competition than Kym – not to say that Kym isn’t great. I love them both
But if we’re just basing success on pros alone – I think Chris has a better chance on paper than Hines does.
Look up, Miss psychic wonder.
When I can tear my eyes away from Derek’s butt, it certainly appears to be the same dress, down to the rinestones around the neckline.
Hey, new season coming soon! Yay!
From the get go I’m liking some of my favorite ladies with their new partners- Anna, Kym, Cheryl, I’m looking forward to seeing them teach their guys. I also adore the fact that there seems to be no one who has had a lot of previous dance experience. I just prefer it that way. I could be missing someone though since I haven’t yet gotten familiar with all the contestants or even the majority of them.
Maks&Kirstie could be awesome or a disaster but it’s hard to imagine them middle of the pack. It should be fun either way.
I like the fact Dmirty came back because I like to see someone learn and grow if he can achieve that. I also think he had some very decent choreography with Mya and deserves another shot at this. I hope he and Petra don’t wind up just being pretty and not showing much else.
I’m also interested in how Karina does with her partner, I’m hoping to see something really good from her.
Wishing us all a fun filled and drama-free (at least the bad kind of drama) season!
Well, no one had a ton of previous dance experience last season, either, Sasa – no matter what the trolls on the abc boards like to claim.
Of course, if you’re going to say Jennifer did, then you kinda have to say Ralph did as well.
I should have said either dance experience or dance proficiency (with or without experience). I doubt we will have such technically good dances this season week one as we had the previous two seasons.
Just Ralph but you could argue then that Chris has experience from wrestling where they technically choreograph their matches, lol. Or you can say Chelsea and Romeo the same advantage of other ringers like Mel since Chelsea has performance background and both are musicians.
Honestly I never thought that Jennifer was more of a ringer because of Dirty Dancing but because of her schooling…didn’t she take a lot of dance in school, in addition to her theater training? I mean, she was definitely not a professional dancer (like Mya) and her age and injuries helped offset some of her advantages, but she does not equal Ralph Macchio in terms of background. That’s not even counting having Joel Grey as her father (because we can’t quantify how much influence or teaching he may have done for her over the years). I say this as someone that absolutely doesn’t mind that people come in with varying levels of experience, by the way. If it was all about experience Mario Lopez and Mya would both have won.
I’m watching the Bulls-Heat game on ABC and they are pimping Jericho, Sugar Ray, and Hines Ward being on DWTS. Like – hey guys, people you like, right here on this little dancing show!
I love targeted advertising lol
Figamentation, I’m watching Cheers reruns and saw an add for Kirstie on DWTS. Love it!
I don’t think so, fig. If you count that, you have to count MANY more people as ringers than we have previously – such as marissa jaret winokur and Florence Henderson. I’m sure there are many more than that. I think people have a tendency to make people “ringers” or proficient just because they end up doing well (or because they have derek) in ballroom. I think there is a lot to be said for revisionist history – even unintended.
And as for proficiency – I don’t think you can make that statement either. Brooke Burke, for one, was proficient from week one. I think we will see who’s a natural, and we may find some ppl who have more training than we thought.
Ringer is maybe too strong a word to use for Jennifer Grey because she was never a lock for the win, but the point of my post was that her experience wasn’t ONLY Dirty Dancing, that she had years of dance and theater training in school. You compared her to Ralph Macchio and I was just stating that their backgrounds weren’t exactly the same because he didn’t study dance (that I’ve ever heard) in school.
Everyone knew that Jennifer was going to be at least pretty decent, the surprise came that she was even better than expected – and part of that can be attributed to past training, natural talent, and the teaching skills and choreography of Derek. I don’t think Jennifer would have won if she had been paired with another pro because I think Derek’s choreography was integral to their success – and maintaining their likability in the face of really shitty, unflattering packages.
I actually don’t mind people with previous experience, especially since if you tried to cast the show excluding that the show would have ended after two seasons. Where I have trouble is the double standard that often applies. If anyone else had gotten Derek’s partners, they wouldn’t be called ringers and their previous experience wouldn’t be noted – especially since most of them didn’t really have any. Nicole was Derek’s only ringer and his only partner with experience that wasn’t also balanced by serious liabilities. Hell, Derek got his only ringer in a season with another ringer (Evan) and another person with experience (Erin) – it’s never been where Derek was guaranteed a win. Unlike mark. Twice.
I also don’t remember reading that Jennifer had “studied dance” – did she actually study it or did she take a couple classes? I also hate how these things get overstated – often in an effort to denigrate. Let’s face it – the pros studied dance. I find it hard to believe that anyone else on the show has besides mya.
I thought that I read somewhere that Nicole minored in dance in college. Can’t remember where though, so maybe I imagined it?
I don’t mind people coming in with some experience either – some of the people I’ve liked a lot have had some, others none at all. Each person has their own starting point, which is why the judges tend to adjust their scoring based on who is standing before them (right or wrong, it’s what they do – and for the most part I’m fine with it). I was not hating on Jennifer’s background at all (to sound like a Palin). I don’t cry foul, I don’t even REALLY care who wins (I just want to be entertained). I agree that many people unfairly target Derek, which is why I often defend him. As far as Jennifer, I remember an interview with her long ago (before DWTS) where she talked about studying acting and dancing with Tracy Pollan in school. According to Wiki it was at Dalton, probably in their arts program. Does it make her an automatic win? Of course not – plenty of stars have come in with SOME experience (be it from lessons as a kid, choreography as a cheerleader/dancer, video/concert choreo, etc). And many of those people haven’t won. Some contestants with very little or no experience have bested those with years of exposure to dance. You just never know who is going to win. You can usually get a good idea who is going to get to the final four pretty quickly, but even then, there’s the occasional shocker (Sabrina & Ty, for example). But that’s part of the fun!
I agree that different levels at the beginning add to the fun, I wouldn’t change that. It adds the potential surprise effect. But it doesn’t have to be such a drastic difference, people differ in their natural dancing talent plenty.
I also don’t think Derek got the best partners from all the pros. It’s not about Derek (although the last two seasons could have made it look that way for an outsider because he did dance with two best marked stars who had some considerable ability from the get go).
It’s just that I get the feeling that, when someone is technically miles over the pack, the show concept changes a bit. It is meant to be about dancing & personality. That’s why they let the viewers decide so much. But when someone dances like Nicole or Jen or Mya (especially Nicole) the personality part is reduced to “can she hold it together” because the dancing part is so overwhelming. That makes it less interesting for me. It’s just a personal preference. I like my celebrities a bit confused at the beggining, that’s where you can see more about how they react to pressure, critique…
That said, I did love Sabrina so I have to contradict myself somewhat. I do think I liked her so much because she and Mark had such amazing chemistry which wasn’t the case with other “ringers” as far as I can remember right now.