Dancing with the Stars Season 28 – PRO WATCH!!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here we are again.  I’ve gotten to be a pretty lazy blogger, thanks to this little hiatus we just suffered through. Actually, I didn’t suffer at all, I just like being dramatic sometimes. 😉

Did anyone else notice the wording of the tweet that Courtney posted yesterday about the cast announcement??  “Season 28 of DancingABC is here and we’re revealing all the new stars and the new cast live on GMA next Wednesday.” All new stars AND a new cast?? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Now, granted, Courtney and I did spend half an hour texting last night debating whether the GMA tweeter is just an idiot (probably) or if there is something more nefarious about (who the hell knows?).  But why else do you tweet about new stars AND a new cast?? What the actual f@#k?

Okay, now that I’ve scared the bejesus out of 50% of our audience, let’s talk about who’s not likely to be back – maybe ever. In any capacity. Julianne Hough, for one. She’s now loyal to NBC and on AGT a couple nights a week. Derek?? Has a producing deal with NBC and says with a great deal of certainty (while literally standing 4 feet from me – and I was sitting. Imagine that. 🙂 ) that he will be back on World of Dance in 2020. He might be back for the last season of DWTS…but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I only say these things because invariably I see people in the comments and on twitter putting him in their pro wish list or predictions. Just stop already. I will be STUNNED if he appears on DWTS this or any other season. I do think that Hannah and Derek would make a beautiful dancing pair – oh yes. But even if he were back I don’t think we would see it. Ah well. Maks?? No idea and he’s not that great of a source on his own stuff – he tends to change his mind and/or use his leverage. But I believe he’s indicated that he won’t be back. Mark? VERY doubtful. Why would he? And then there’s the rest….We don’t know a lot yet, because I don’t think they know a lot yet.

NOTE: Just because a pro assumes they will be back on the show and talks like they’ll be back on the show DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL BE BACK ON THE SHOW!! Until they are absolute, it’s just wishful thinking. So PLEASE spare me the anecdotal “Sharna said that when she’s back…” stuff. Of course most of them want to be back – but that doesn’t mean we always get what we want.  And if you’re going to tell me someone is back, Imma need a link. 🙂

ETA: When Jamie in the comments first said something about Artem’s Instagram post, I thought she was right. Then I thought he was just praising his girlfriend. Then I saw Nikki Bella‘s instastory this morning.  Judge for yourself, but it ain’t looking good for Artem fans. Yes, of course it could be something else…but right around the time they find out if they need to be in NYC on Wednesday??

ETA2: In case you weren’t convinced before, scroll down to Nikki’s latest post. Also, Val and Jenna’s interview from just the other day (Thursday or Friday) reveals they were still one female celeb short. There doesn’t appear to be an embed code so click the link.

ETA3: Source was able to confirm the pros below in red as definitely IN – but did specify that some of the pros are still on edge, waiting to hear if they’re in or not. Source also confirmed that the pros WILL be at GMA on Wednesday for the cast announcement, but reiterated that the partnerships would NOT be announced that day – that will either happen on social media, or possibly not until the first show 😯 … -Court-

ETA4: Apparently Peta is IN, per UsWeekly. Something to think about: if Peta is IN, who got cut…? Peta also says in the article that Maks is “busy with other things”, so I’m tentatively putting him as “OUT”…but crazy things can happen in the last 24 hours before the cast announcement…-Court-

Female pros:

Lindsay – IN
Witney – IN
Jenna – IN
Emma – IN
Cheryl – IN
Sharna – OUT
Peta – IN
Hayley – OUT

Male pros:

Artem – OUT
Gleb – IN
Keo – IN
Alan – IN
Sasha – IN
Val – IN
Maks – OUT
Brandon – IN

New Pros or Featured Dancers (We don’t know which)

Danielle Karacha Pashkova
Pasha Pashkova

Status of Former Pros (you never know!):

Derek – OUT (on contract with another network that doesn’t like to share AND a producing deal with said network)
Mark – OUT
Karina – OUT
Kym – OUT
Tony – OUT
Louis – OUT (judging the Dutch version of DWTS)
Edyta – OUT
Lacey – OUT
Anna – OUT
Allison – Very pregnant (congrats!)

Troupe: (Troupe has been disbanded)

Hayley – OUT
Britt – OUT
Artur – OUT
Morgan – OUT
Vlad – OUT