DWTS Season 18: Rumor, Speculation and Wannabe Dancer Round Up!!

It’s time, once again, to take a look at the casting rumors we’ve seen for this upcoming season and rank them according to how likely they are to happen. I was thinking we really didn’t have many rumors for this season, but it turns out there’s more than I thought.  But there are also a lot of people saying they would LOVE to do it, which is not the same thing as a “rumor”.  And I also have NOT included who OTHER people would like to see dance – that’s not even a wannabe. Anyway, here we go….

ETA2: Lots of updates! Read our complete list below…and here’s to the Cast Announcement on Tuesday!

Actual Rumor – Plausible

Dan Cortese – why not? He’s the source of his own rumor and his hashtag still makes me think.

Bruce Jenner – Yes, he’s an Olympian, but he’s actually rumored and not just on video saying he wants to do it. And I think he’s a plausible choice. We’ll see!

Cody Simpson – Lots of rumors around this one –  we’ve posted on it over and over and over. First he said he’d been asked, then he was making out like it was a done deal and now he’s back to “in talks”.  But the offers have a way of disappearing when you blab so much. 🙂 Not to mention that he’s talked about it so often that I’m starting to not believe him. But it’s plausible, sure. It’s just that he’s on his way to “formerly plausible”.

Jaclyn Smith – This is one classy woman and if she says she’s been asked, then I believe she’s been asked. Just not sure she’s going to make it on the cast this season, but I would call it.

Shay Mitchell – Brant’s costar from Pretty Little Liars. A while back she and Val were talking in code, like he was trying to recruite her or something. Lord knows, DWTS goes back to the same well more than once so I could see it.


Sean Avery
– A very strong rumor being Page Six doesn’t usually mess around! @DWTSgossip is also reporting that he’s dancing.

Candace Cameron Bure – Leaked by E News who is another good source for rumors.

NeNe Lekes – Same as above.

Billy Dee Williams – has been cast according to RumorFix. As you know, a lot of stuff that comes out at this late date is right on target.

Danica McKellar – has been cast according to Too Fab. Another late addition!

 

Formerly Plausible Rumor

Juan Pablo – The Bachelor star probably had a good shot but blew it with his homophobic comments.

Tim Tebow -Formally rumored and rumored again this season. Will this be his time?

 

Rumored – But Unlikely

Kelly Brook – Kelly is friends with Derek but has been on the British version of DWTS. I don’t see this happening, but I suppose it’s possible.  If she had dropped out earlier than week 9, maybe. Otherwise, she rivals Davis and White as far as ringers go.

Naya Rivera – I put Naya and Cassie (below) both in the unlikely category mainly because they were rumored way back in December by a smaller magazine. Rumors that early with no followup are usually false.

Cassie Ventura

Renee Zellweger – I don’t think so. This was rumored back in early December and not a peep since then. I just don’t think  she’s fallen that far off the “A” list such that she’d show up on reality TV.

Tori Spelling – I put this in the unlikely category mainly because the rumor came out all the way back in late November and not a peep since then. Otherwise, I think it’s plausible and she ain’t got all that going on. Radar Online was the source and they have a decent rumor history but it’s been a while. Isn’t she plagued by husband cheating rumors though? I think that would possibly rule her out this go round.

 

All Talk, Likely No Action

Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi – Who? Anyway, I think this was likely her joking around with Cheryl Burke

 

Olympians/Sports Heros Who Want to Do It and Therefore Probably Could

Meryl Davis and Charlie White – they definitely want to do it, and I doubt that ABC would hesitate to ask them, unless they already had the cast set. I vote yes. 🙂

Diana Nyad – She told Katie Couric she wanted to do it. Is she on this season? Beats me.

Ray Lewis – Said to have been asked and is dancing. Hollywood Life sometimes gets it wrong and sometimes gets it right.

 

Olympians Who Want to Do It But Probably Won’t Be Asked

Noelle Pikus-Pace – said she would love to give it a try, but I figure since I’ve been obesessed with the Olympics and don’t know who she is that she has little shot.

 

The Rumor That Wasn’t

James Maslow – turns out he’s just dating Peta. 🙂 But considering he’s young and cute and reasonably unknown, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he was on.

 

Asked

Stuart Scott -Said to be asked to do the show, but, not sure this is true?

Russell Wilson – Asked, but, said no. However, he’s open to do the show at some other time.

The Wanna Be Dancers

Kandi Burruss – I got nuthin’.

Carla Hall – She wants to, but I don’t see it. I could be wrong.

Elisa Donovan – Some of her fans started her campaign and she picked it up from there.

Julia Mancuso – Would love to be asked to do Dancing With The Stars.

The Pro Rumors

Blake McGrath – I hope this one is just bull.  Tyne is one thing, but this dude ain’t even close.

Someone from SYTYCD – it’s happened before. Just sayin’. 🙂

ETA: I Got Followed By a Person Of Interest, So I Might Be Dancing

A couple people fall into this category. First, Geoff Stults was followed by Cheryl Burke today (thanks Madeline) and he apparently returned the favor. Of course, she also followed Jason Collins of the NBA. Also curious is that Derek’s publicist (who he shares with Cheryl)  just TODAY followed Meryl Davis and Charlie White – now? Why now and why not back in August when he started working with them?? More of our twitter findings HERE.

What do Vogue and Courtney think??

Vogue: Thanks for rounding the rumors up, Heidi!! I think from all the rumors, I am the most excited about Jaclyn Smith…and I’m especially excited that you put her into the “Plausible” category. She was my favorite Charlie’s Angel. I’d be overjoyed if she were to dance….and especially if they out her with Gleb. 😀

Another favorite rumor is Meryl Davis and Charlie White. That would be a dream come true as well. However, I’m not getting my hopes up especially if they decide to do Worlds. Also, what about the Olympics in 4 years? If they decide to continue on, I don’t see them risking any kind of injuries by doing shows like Dancing With The Stars.

Another fun rumor (or the rumor that wasn’t) is James Maslow. What a cool get that would be and he would be easy on the eyes, but, don’t put him with Peta. Put him with Karina!! 😀

I’m excited on the Cody Simpson rumor too. Though like Heidi (and like Court have mentioned in comments), I’m starting to think it’s all talk now, but we will see. If he’s dancing, I hope they put him with Sharna.

Kelly Brook is another fun rumor, but, I can just hear it now if she were paired with Derek. We’d never hear the end of it. Oh well, they might as well give Derek whoever since they’ll be called a ringer anyway in the end. 🙄

Court: Wow…this has got to be one of the shortest rumor round-ups we’ve seen in quite a few seasons. Have TPTB finally figured out how to keep a secret after 17 seasons??? 😛

I guess I’ve just gotten to the point where I don’t get too wound up over the celebrities themselves (unless, of course, they FINALLY ask Alfonso Ribeiro to dance 😉 ), and I seem to get more focused on the types of pairings the combination of pros & celebrities on any given season might generate. That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Jaclyn, Meryl & Charlie, or even Golnesa on DWTS – as long as they get appropriate, compatible partners. I think I might lose my sh*t if they happened to stick Meryl with one of “The Family”, as that would be a yet another ringer on a platter…and something they’d try to deny all season. Ditto for Charlie – please, give him to anyone but Peta, who I fear would go for the lowest common denominator (aka shimmying, removal of shirts, and OTT steaminess). Golnesa? I’d love to see her with Val – for the simple reason that she’s quite the handful. Could be hilarious to watch him try to cope 😛

As funny as this sounds – I kind of hope we don’t get any cast leaks in the next week. It would actually be kind of refreshing to go into the cast announcement completely blind – wouldn’t provide much in the way of conversation fodder here at Pure, but I’m sure we can find other things to occupy ourselves with until then 😉