PureDWTS Season 18 Cast Watch: Interesting Things on Twitter/Instagram

So I know I’ve warned you guys not to read too far into who follows who on Twitter – but that’s exactly what I’m going to do right now.  😛 Do as I say, not as I do, kids! But for what it’s worth, in the past, we have been able to deduce some partnerships based on who the pros and/or rumored celebs recently started following on Twitter – and in season 11, we had a negligent casting director to thank for inadvertently spoiling the entire cast by following all of them of Twitter mere days before the announcement.  So what interesting stories might Twitter tell about this season’s celebs? Keep an eye on this page, as we may update it if some other interesting followings occur between now and the cast announcement…which we will be live blogging starting Tuesday morning, hint hint 😉

Things to keep in mind: the pros and celebs have gotten much, much more careful than they’ve been in previous seasons – they know we’re watching Twitter, so they aren’t likely to do something as dumb as each following their partner mere days before the cast announcement.  But they do slip-up from time to time, which is where we come in.  Keep in mind as well that the pros and celebs could have met in a capacity unrelated to the show – just because they’re following each other, does not mean they’re partnered together. Or that the celeb is doing DWTS 😛

UPDATES: With less than 24 hours to go until the cast announcements, I’ve gone ahead and updated with what I would consider to be significant or interesting follows on Twitter (and now Instagram as well).  Went ahead and struck out Paul & Blake under “rumored new pros”, since we now know our male troupe members (and some of you seemed to be irked that they were still on the list as rumors).  And I know you guys are trying to help (and are doing a great job of it!) but please – no more NeNe updates.  As I said below, she’s been about as subtle as a sledgehammer when it comes to whether or not she’s on the show – I don’t really need to add in clips of Andy Cohen “strongly hinting” about NeNe being on DWTS, or mention NeNe heading to L.A., etc.  Let’s put it this way: if she’s not announced as part of the cast tomorrow morning, I will be INCREDIBLY shocked.  😛

Rumored celebs:

NeNe Leakes – was following Cheryl as of Tuesday…but appears to have unfollowed now

Meryl Davis – follows Derek; only recently followed by Derek & Cheryl’s publicist

Charlie White – follows Derek, Anna, and Peta; only recently followed by Derek & Cheryl’s publicist

Dan Cortese – doesn’t follow anyone from the show, but followed by Tony & Karina

Shay Mitchell – follows Val; Val follows back

Juan Pablo Galavis – followed by Witney

Cody Simpson – followed by Witney’s mom, Jill; has since unfollowed Cody (so many coincidences…;-) )

Sean Avery – follows Karina on Instagram

James Maslow – recently followed by Sharna

 

Possible new pros:

Jenna Johnson – follows Lindsay & Witney; they follow back, and Chelsie, Emma, and Sharna follow as well

Paul Karmiryan – follows a LOT of people from the show and from BWAT; followed by Witney, Lindsay, & Oksana

Blake McGrath – followed by Cheryl

 

Tweets That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”:

NeNe is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, just like Tony…maybe they’re partners! 😛

nenetweet

And then we have this interesting non-denial from The Chew‘s Carla Hall…

carlatweet

And of course, former DWTS costume designer and costume designer for Meryl & Charlie, Randall Christensen, kinda spilled the beans by congratulating Meryl & Charlie on getting chosen for DWTS yesterday…more about that in Vogue’s post.

And Diana Nyad confirms she’s in by tweeting this pic from the cast photo shoot and giving out a not-so-subtle hint…

diananyad

 

Random Twitter observations:

Mark & Antonio Sabato Jr. (who has been trying to get on the show for YEARS now) recently started following each other.  Probably nothing, but still caught my eye (and made me chuckle) since Antonio has been campaigning since at least season 11. #Bromance?

Emma recently followed Steve Martin.  He’d be such a big get, I doubt it means anything – but man, it would be AWESOME to have him on the show 😎

Karina recently started following Victor Cruz, who’s been a rumor before.  I wonder if they pursued him for the show after Russell Wilson turned it down (according to DWTSGossip).

Bruce Jenner doesn’t appear to have a Twitter account (at least not an official, verified one), which is surprising considering the social media presence of the rest of that family – and Kris’ total control over their lives.  Then again, they are getting divorced, sooo…

I still check Ryan O’Neal‘s twitter before every cast announcement, just to see if MAYBE they’ve decided to cash in on his promise to “come back on another season” after he withdrew from season 13 due to a knee injury (Carson took his place as Anna’s partner).  Nothing too promising, but I did find this tweet he retweeted rather interesting – and the timing would have been about right for casting time.  Doubt he’s ever coming back, though – he seems to have his hands full with his son running afoul of the law, battling prostate cancer, and some bizarre lawsuit about a painting of Farrah Fawcett.

@IfEmmaGoesWeFollow brought it to my attention yesterday that Emma also recently (within the last 24 hours or so) started following General Hospital star Sean Kanan – Sean follows back, and also follows Lindsay as well as Rib Hillis, Elena’s husband.  Not sure what Sean’s status on GH is (will have to ask Mama Spence about that one), but it does seem like we’re about due for another GH star on DWTS. **UPDATE: And a mere 20 minutes after I posted this nugget, Sean stopped following Emma.  Suspicious much? 😉 ANOTHER UPDATE: Sean flat out denied being asked to do DWTS here…but his #sendmeincoach hashtag makes it seem like he’s game for it if he’s ever asked. 

In her most recent following spree (which includes Jenna Johnson, Meryl Davis, Charlie White, and Erin Andrews), Sharna also followed Drew Carey.  Hmmm…;-) UPDATE: Cheryl posted this picture from the cast photo shoot – sure looks like she’s wearing Drew’s glasses, doesn’t it?

cherylIG

And Cody Simpson’s mother just posted the following on her Instagram account…check out the hashtag:

angiesimpson

So I’ve seen a lot of you mentioning Nicole Curtis from Rehab Addict on HGTV as a possible contestant – not sure where or how this rumor cropped up (since I can’t find any media on it, or any solid Twitter/Instagram clues), but she did tweet that she was headed to L.A. – which doesn’t tell me much, but I guess I’ll mention it here just on the off-shot that it’s something substantial.  I doubt it, though.

 

Court’s thoughts:  Maybe I’m  just living in denial, but I’m having a hard time believing that Derek is really out, due to the fact that they seem to have actually gotten Meryl & Charlie and Meryl seemed like she had her heart set on Derek as a partner.  I would think they would be a bit of a package deal (you don’t get Meryl unless you get Derek), but who knows.  Wonder why NeNe unfollowed Cheryl – maybe didn’t want to look like she was giving anything away? Then again, she was anything but subtle in her tweet the other day.  Can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s actually beginning to look like Witney actually might have gotten Cody as a partner – pretty big get for her rookie season as a pro.  Twitter gives me a headache sometimes.  🙁

Vogue: I’m with you Court! I don’t want to believe or can’t even picture the show without Derek? I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a dark feeling in all the time of watching Dancing With The Stars? And then there is Gleb. I thought for sure when he started recently following a model named Laura Alicia Summers and she followed him, that this might be his partner? *sigh* Oh sad 🙁 , but, there is a light at the end of the tunnel thinking of my girl Sharna. I have always loved Henry too and now he will have a chance to really show the world what he’s capable of. The Meryl and Charlie follows have me excited and add light as well. I’m also excited for how Karina is following Victor Cruz. What a cool get that would be if he were dancing. *holds on to the light* and remembering nothing is totally final until Tuesday!

Heidi: That Derek’s publicist literally only followed Meryl and Charlie on Tuesday (ish) is a mystery to me, since he started working with them last August. Weird. Why didn’t she follow them back then? It wasn’t a secret. But as soon as I saw Maks on the pro list I had the same thought that Kristyn Burtt did – if Derek’s out, they need a star. Maks is the only one who can come close to Derek on the male side of the equation.  But the publicist thing still has me wondering. I’m conflicted. I will be so bummed if Peta gets Charlie – he deserves so much better. Like Karina. 🙂 That’s a pair I could vote for.   And OMG – Steve Martin?? That would be huge.  FYI – I expect to hear many cries of outrage if Val gets Meryl as that would be his 3rd or 4th ringer in a row, depending on how you count it. :::crickets:::