Dancing with the Stars is on the way back to ABC and Disney+ in just a couple more weeks in the 2024 TV schedule, and even though all of the new celebrity contestants haven't been confirmed yet, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro previewed something special that he's bringing to Season 33. The former DWTS champion is proud of the weight that that he lost since the end of Season 32, and he's "ready to rock" in any upcoming dance numbers.
While there have obviously been a whole lot of celeb dancers on the show by the 33rd season, Alfonso Ribeiro has to be one of the most memorable after he broke the internet doing "The Carlton" in Season 19 from his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days. He returned to the show as a host for Season 31 and joined forces with Julianne Hough for Season 32, which also was the first to introduce the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy in honor of the late judge. Ahead of the upcoming Season 33 premiere, Ribeiro told People this:
I know that it's going to be a tight season and we are gonna have some fun. It's gonna be great and the dancing will be better than ever. And I've lost 20 pounds, so now I'm like, 'Oh, I think I might look a little better when they ask me to do some of the little dances in the opening numbers.' So you know, I am ready to rock.
Pretty much anybody who can dance as part of the Dancing with the Stars team will dance at some point in a season, so it seems like a safe bet that Alfonso Ribeiro will be able to strut his stuff after his weight loss even as a co-host instead of a pro or a contestant. At the time of writing, the only two competitors announced for Season 33 are Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik fresh off of his medals at the 2024 Games in Paris and convicted con artist Anna Delvey, whose exploits inspired Netflix's Inventing Anna.
This won't be the first time that Alfonso Ribeiro has taken the Dancing with the Stars floor after losing some weight. While competing in Season 19 back in 2014, he told ABC News that he'd lost seventeen pounds, and it certainly wasn't by taking it easy. Before he'd even hit the halfway point of his season, he said to the outlet:
I'm doing four, five hours at the studio, then I come home and work for three or four hours on the dances myself, just kind of get it into my body. It's really, really, really difficult. People seem to think I'm this professional dancer and that's so not the case. I've only done tap dancing before.
Talk about earning the mirrorball trophy! Ribeiro couldn't have known at the time that he'd eventually be the Season 19 champion alongside pro partner Witney Carson, let alone co-hosting DWTS within in a decade. Tom Bergeron was the host when the Fresh Prince alum competed. Tyra Banks was the next to occupy the hosting gig, before she was joined by Ribeiro. Banks ultimately left and was replaced by Julianne Hough, who returns with Ribeiro later this month for fans who watch on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription.
Weight loss isn't uncommon on DWTS due to the sheer amount of cardio and training involved with competing. Just last year, Alyson Hannigan – who ultimately came in fifth place with partner Sasha Farber – shared that she felt "confident and strong" after losing "20 pounds of both weight and emotional baggage" over the course of Season 32. Harry Jowsey had a different experience last season due to what he described as having "so many snacks around" on the DWTS set.
Fortunately, the wait to see Alfonso Ribeiro back in primetime and (hopefully) dancing isn't too much longer. Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars will premiere on Tuesday, September 17. Like Season 32, the episodes will both air on ABC and stream on Disney+.
