After what seems like FOREVER since we’ve had a true, full-length season (not sure about you, but All-Athletes barely felt like a blip on our radar, and Juniors doesn’t quite feel real yet since it’s not airing until October), the fall pre-season is finally upon us 🙂
First, time to do a bit of “pro roll call”: Lindsay, Witney, Emma, Jenna, Cheryl, Hayley, Artem, Gleb, Keo, Sasha, Alan, & Brandon are all serving as mentors on DWTS Junior, which tends to increase their odds of being pros on the fall season, from where I sit (since there’s going to be a good deal of cross-promotion between DWTS/DWTS Jr.); Val is now a judge on DWTS Junior, which makes me wonder if his days as a regular pro are over; Sharna was curiously absent from the list of pros involved in Juniors, and seems to have thrown herself headlong into other ventures, which for me puts her role as a pro in question; and we haven’t really seen Peta or Maks involved in DWTS since their fairly unremarkable run as pros last fall. Keep in mind – fall season typically has (13) couples, and with this fall season being only nine weeks long (as opposed to the standard 10 or 11 weeks) due to the Primetime Emmy’s on Sept. 17, we may end up seeing fewer couples than that. If you are one of the ones hoping to see Hayley and/or Brandon get a shot at being a pro, just know that it means one of the older pros (perhaps Peta, Sharna, Val, or Maks) has to sit this one out. There is not an unlimited number of pro spots, unfortunately.
As for the “old guard” – pros from the days of yore that may or may not pop in for season-long encore run – with the exception of Cheryl, I don’t think we’ll being seeing the return of any alums. Derek is a hard “no”, due to his involvement with World of Dance; and with Mark’s new Broadway gig (and the fact that he seemed pretty done with DWTS when asked about it recently) I doubt we see him back, either. Kym, Edyta, & Anna all have young kids; and Lacey, like Mark, seems to be pretty done with DWTS, too. Karina and Tony seem to be keeping busy with judging and other events, but might be willing to return if asked – I just don’t see them getting asked, unfortunately. It’s now been two years since we last saw Allison as a pro, so barring extraordinary circumstances, I’d say she’s out; and unless someone (foolishly) requests Louis as a partner, I think he’ll have plenty of time to bitterly shade the current pros on Twitter 😉
So where does that leave us? I will say I’d be genuinely SHOCKED if Lindsay, Witney, Emma, Jenna, Cheryl, Artem, Gleb, Keo, & Alan didn’t get pro spots; I think Sasha is probably going to get a spot, but there always seems to be that degree of uncertainty due to his height (which is dumb, since he is the same height as Mark, and they always managed to find partners for Mark). I think the remaining 2-3 spots (depending on the number of couples this fall, and how many female/male celebs they get) could go to any combination of Hayley, Sharna, Peta, Val, Maks, and Brandon, depending on whether the Chmerkovskiy faction and/or Sharna opts to return as pros or not.
As of right now (11-Aug, 7ish PM EST) we don’t have a date for the pro announcement or cast announcement, but source seems to think that the cast announcement for Juniors will occur around the same time as the one for the regular season…perhaps one massive GMA event???
UPDATE, 8/28, 9:11 AM EST: So apparently GMA is announcing the pros today, without much previous fanfare. Big deal being made about Jenna & Val’s engagement, so I guess we know who’s gonna be the ones getting promoted this season. On a happier note – looks like Brandon is getting a shot as a pro after a really strong showing as a mentor on DWTS Junior. Cheryl’s also back, which makes me think Hayley’s chances at a pro spot just got slimmer. Only 8 pros have been announced so far…
Update 2: Full list posted at ABC.com. No big surprises here – but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see how Val’s stint as a Juniors judge changes the dynamic between he and the other pros on the regular season. I’d say this is more than likely the full list – we’ve got our 13 pros. So I better not hear any “but maybe there’s a surprise 14th couple!!!” chatter…
Update #3, 8/30/18, 3:54 PM EST: So let’s talk troupe. Source is fairly certain that all three girls will be back – makes sense, since Hayley served as a Juniors mentor over the summer, and Morgan was working a lot with the Junior troupe. It also looks like Artur will be back, as he was looking on Facebook for an apartment to sublet in LA as of last Friday 😛 It looks like there’s going to be at least (1) new guy, though…any guesses on who?
Female pros:
Lindsay – IN
Witney – IN
Jenna – IN
Emma – IN
Cheryl – IN
Sharna – IN
Peta – OUT
Hayley – still in troupe
Male pros:
Artem – IN
Gleb – IN
Keo – IN
Alan – IN
Sasha – IN
Val – IN
Maks – OUT
Mark – OUT (Kinky Boots on Broadway)
Brandon – IN (!!!!)
Status of Former Pros (you never know!):
Derek – OUT (on contract with another network that doesn’t like to share)
Karina – ??
Kym – Likely OUT (has infant twins)
Tony – ??
Louis – ??
Edyta – Unlikely (wants more time with her kids)
Lacey – Unlikely
Anna – ??
Allison – ??
Troupe:
Hayley – IN
Britt – IN
Brandon – promoted to pro
Artur – IN
Morgan – IN
New guy(s)?
