It looks like it's going to be raining Olympians when Season 26 of Dancing with the Stars begins. The previously announced all-athletes season of the dance competition is gearing up to keep February's Olympic fever raging full-tilt with headline-maker Tonya Harding, the 2018 medal-winning ice skater Adam Rippon, and 2014/2018 Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson, who are all reportedly set to be among the Dancing with the Stars cast for Season 26. It is probably safe to say that anticipation for the new season has unofficially reached critical mass.
Tonya Harding's casting, as reported by US Weekly, comes on the heels of a major year for the former figure skater. 2017 saw the release of I, Tonya, a Harding-focused biopic that earned critical raves and also earned its star Margot Robbie her first Oscar nomination. Critical praise aside, I, Tonya also marked the beginning of a more sympathetic approach for the media's handling of Harding. Will her time on Dancing with the Stars help build on that positive momentum?
No matter your opinion on Tonya Harding, she is a competitor and with former on-ice rival Nancy Kerrigan having previously starred on Dancing with the Stars, it will be interesting to see who ends up placing higher. Kerrigan competed in Season 24 and was voted off during a double elimination in Week 6. In other words, she made it halfway through the season. With the competition in Season 26 only set to feature ten competitors compared to Season 24's twelve, it will be a little trickier to calculate who lasted longer on the show, since Harding will have fewer contestants to go up against. Speaking of...
Tonya Harding is not the only potential Season 26 cast member to be getting excited about. Pyeongchang sensation Adam Rippon is also reported to be a part of the cast, and his presence should not come as a huge surprise. He has expressed interest in competing on the show in the past, and it is in Dancing with the Stars' interest to cast someone who is as popular as Rippon, who became an attention magnet on social media and the talk show circuit during the Winter Games. On top of, you know, winning Bronze at the Olympics.
Jamie Anderson is a two-time gold medalist in the Women's Slopestyle Event, having won the event back-to-back, which is no small feat. But how will she do on a dance floor without the comfort of a snowboard to guide her to victory?
Dancing with the Stars fans must now wait until the official cast announcement to learn who else makes the cast, and if Tonya Harding, Adam Rippon, and Jamie Anderson, actually have. Fans will also anxiously await word as to whether gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim and brother-and-sister ice dance team Maia and Alex Shibutani will compete in Season 26. The Shibutanis took home the bronze medal in Pyeongchang, and rumors have floated of their DWTS involvement.
The all-athlete season of Dancing with the Stars Season 26 will be announced April 13 on Good Morning America. The abbreviated season will last four weeks and premiere on ABC on Monday, April 30, at 8:00 p.m. ET. To learn when some of your other TV favorites will return, check out our midseason premiere guide and summer premiere schedule.
