PureDWTS 10th Anniversary Special – Who Do You Hope to See Back?

After much speculation (and a lot of questions!) we now know that the 10th Anniversary Special is taping this coming Tuesday, April 21, and will air on April 28  May 7 (or May 14, depending on who you ask).  What we aren’t so positive on is who will be returning to dance – Deep Throat has confirmed that Kelly & Alfonso will be participating, and thanks to Claire for the heads-up on this interesting post to Emmitt’s charity auction. So who else might we see? And who do we Pure girls want to see? Read on…

ETA1: Ok, got some new info that clarifies the format of the anniversary special a bit.  Apparently the list of returning celebs is MASSIVE; HOWEVER – not everyone returning is going to be performing individually.  Most of them are going to be performing in groups, and they’re doing brand new dances.  For example – a bunch of the NFL players are going to be performing together (squeeeee!!!) and so far, it’s definitely going to be Emmitt, Kurt Warner, Jacoby, and Donald…and there may be more 😀 Not gonna lie – about crashed my car when I got that text from Deep Throat.  I would guess that their respective pros are going to be performing with them. Now with that knowledge under our belts, I’m guessing that Kristi, Katherine (yes, I know she’s pregnant, but she’s on the list), Chelsea, and Sadie may be performing as a group with Mark.  As far as Deep Throat knows right now, the only couples dancing individually are Kelly & Val, Alfonso & Witney, and Meryl & Maks. 

ETA2: Guess I need to clarify a few things so that this post does not become a royal pain in my ass 🙂 First: I HAVE INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, ETC. TOO.  If Melissa & Tony confirm they’re in, I will see it, and I will get around to posting it WHEN I’M NO LONGER ASLEEP.  Repeatedly tweeting me and commenting here will not make it go any faster.  Second: I mentioned above that the list of returning celebs is HUGE.  The list below isn’t comprehensive, it was just what DT could remember off the top of his/her head.  There is NO USE in getting bent outta shape about your favorite not being included (yet) – there is definitely more that what we have here.  BREATHE. Three: some of you have tweeted me with some pretty flimsy findings that supposedly confirm that so-and-so is in or whatnot.  Unless a celeb states “I’m going to be on the anniversary special” or I get confirmation from Deep Throat, they’re not going on the “confirmed” list.  I added a new section for “random chatter” where I might post things like that, if I find them relevant.  Fourth: Don’t be that annoying person that continually DM’s myself, Heidi, Vogue, or John begging to know if [insert celeb or pro here] is coming back for the special.  All we know right now is posted here, and we’ll share more if we hear more.  Fifth: hearing conflicting reports about when the special is airing – it’s either the 7th or 14th.  At this point, all I care is that it’s NOT THIS WEEK…

ETA3: More names confirmed for the big NFL players group dance.  Also: Anna will be performing in it, so she is back.

ETA4: Per Deep Throat, 3 of Derek’s former partners and 3 of Mark’s former partners are all dancing together (with Derek & Mark) in a “bromance”-themed dance.  Sadie may have an individual dance.

ETA5: In yet another scheduling shakeup, Anniversary Special will now air next Tuesday, Apr. 28; first results show is pushed to the following Tuesday, May 5.  Single elim in week 7; double elim moved to week 8. Discuss.

Confirmed for 10th Anniversary Special:

Kelly Monaco & Val (season 15 All-Stars, 3rd place) – doing their paso doble and/or their surfer flamenco
Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney (season 19 champions) – doing their salsa
Meryl Davis & Maks (season 18 champions) – some individual dance
Emmitt Smith (season 3 champion) – NFL player group dance
Jacoby Jones (season 16, 3rd place) – NFL player group dance
Kurt Warner (season 11, 5th place) – NFL player group dance
Donald Driver (season 14 champion) – NFL player group dance
Jerry Rice (season 2 runner-up) – NFL player group dance
Michael Irvin (season 9, 7th place) – NFL player group dance
Hines Ward (season 12 champion) – NFL player group dance
Chelsea Kane (season 12, 3rd place) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Kristi Yamaguchi (season 6 champion) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Katherine Jenkins (season 14 runner-up) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Sadie Robertson (season 19 runner-up) – individual dance (?)
Maria Menounos (season 14, 4th place) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Amber Riley (season 16 champion) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Amy Purdy (season 18 runner-up) – Derek/Mark “bromance” group dance
Chelsie Hightower – not sure who she’s dancing with or what they’re doing, but she confirmed she’ll be back
Anna Trebunskaya – dancing in the NFL players group dance (and possibly others)
Melissa Rycroft & Tony (season 8, 3rd place; season 15 All-Stars champions) – Tony confirmed on Instagram; I’m guessing they’re doing an individual dance

Confirmed as not involved:

Shawn Johnson (season 8 champion, season 15 All-Stars runner-up) – knee injury
Zendaya (season 16 runner-up) – had other commitments in NYC, per her mom

Random chatter – take with a grain of salt:

Bill Engvall – tweeted this the other day – see Emma’s response further down
Margaret Cho – could be her in the background of this Instagram pic posted by Allison
Janel Parrishwill be at the show – but unclear if she’s actually dancing or will just be in the audience

Court’s Anniversary Special Wish List:

Bill Engvall & Emma (season 17, 4th place) – doing their samba or paso doble.  Wouldn’t be an anniversary show without a performance from one of my favorite DWTS couples of all time 🙂

Alfonso Ribeiro & Witney (season 19 champions) – doing their jazz.  Their salsa was cute, but this is the one that will go down in history for me!

Kyle Massey & Lacey (season 11 runners-up) – doing their jive. Probably my favorite jive of all-time on the show.

Donald Driver & Peta (season 14 champions) doing their paso doble.  Donald was just such a bright spot, and I got such a kick out of watching him channel Jimi Hendrix 😛

Jacoby Jones & Karina (season 16, 3rd place) doing their jive.  Probably one of the most joyful jives we’ve ever seen on the show 😛

 

Vogue’s Anniversary Special Wish List:
George Hamilton & Edyta (season 2, 6th place) – I’d love to see them do their Quickstep again. It was so beautiful and dashing. Because of Edyta, I became a fan to the show.

Willa Ford & Maks Chmerkovskiy (season 3, eliminated in 5th week) – Waltz!! I’m not so much of a Maks fan now (thanks to his time with Hope Solo), but, I was in the early days. I was shipping these two terribly as I was clueless (was there something going on between them at time? I still wonder.). I was so drawn to them.

Emmitt Smith & Cheryl Burke (season 3 champs) – This one is for my Dad. This is when he became a fan to Cheryl and the show. Since then, we’ve been reviewing the show afterwards every season. #DWTSBringsFamiliesTogether We’ll take their freestyle dance again please.

Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough (season 4 champs) – I’ll take any of their dances.

Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough (season 9, 4th place) – What I’d give to see their Futuristic Paso again. This is probably the dance I’ve watched the most over the years…over and over again. This is also when I became a huge fan to Derek. I also loved when Maks stood in for Derek (when Derek got sick) and did an Argentine Tango with her. Remember that? That was just hot!

Ralph Macchio & Karina Smirnoff (season 12, 4th place) – Their Fox Trot! It was so classy, charming, and romantic.

Donald Driver & Peta (season 14 champions) – Ditto to Court. The Paso Doble! Actually, I would take any dance by these two. I loved all the muscle in their dances.

Lisa Vanderpump & Gleb Savchenko (season 16, eliminated 2nd) – Their Foxtrot was beautiful. I became a huge fan to Gleb in this season for how gentle and fun he was with Lisa.

Amber Riley & Derek Hough (season 17 champs) – I’d like to see them do their Freestyle dance again (my favorite Freestyle ever). I’d also take a replay of the Foxing Awesome group dance. 😀

Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas (season 19 runner up) – I loved all of their dances, but, their Samba to “Hunter” by Pharrell Williams sold me and then some. Unforgettable!

 

Heidi’s Anniversary Special Wish List:

I think it’s highly unlikely that I will get any of my wishes, since I don’t see how Derek can be involved, but I guess you never know!!

Derek and Nicole Scherzinger (Season 10 champs) – just about any dance they did, but the iconic ones are the 50’s Paso Doble, Proud Mary Jive, and the Michael Buble Foxtrot. Also the Lady in Red rumba that CAI called a lift on even thought he dance was over.

Derek and Kellie Pickler (Season 16 Champs) – that Jazz!! And the amazing freestyle. And the Flamenco. 🙂

Derek and Amber Riley (Season 17 Champs) – The freestyle was killer. Loved it.

Sadie Robertson and Mark (season 19 runners-up) – gotta go with Vogue and her selection of their Samba to “Hunter”. That was killer.

Shawn Johnson and Derek (season 15 all-stars runners-up) – mambo

I also have fond memories of the very first team dance, lead by Derek and Brooke Burke (season 7 champions).

One of Maks‘ dances that I remember to this day is his paso with Mel B. Awesome.

So those are our picks…what are yours??? Let’s hear your wishlists for the anniversary special! 🙂