'Dancing With the Stars' Update: Why Are Mark Ballas & Tony Dovolani Not In Season 23? [VIDEO]
Amid all the buzz of celebrities like Ryan Lochte, Laurie Hernandez and former Gov. Rick Perry competing on Dancing With the Stars next season, there's also some interesting news among the pro dancers.
In addition to the celebrity cast announcement, many Dancing With the Stars fans are excited for the return of three classic pros, Derek Hough, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cheryl Burke. The new season will also see Jenna Johnson dancing as a pro for the first time.
But there were two names missing from the pro announcement that some fans have already noticed: Mark Ballas and Tony Dovolani. Ballas and Dovolani have both been important members of the pro community for years, with Ballas having won two seasons and Dovolani having competed every season since 2006.
So why are the two dancers not competing this year? It's not clear why Ballas is missing from the lineup, especially after his Instagram post last night teasing today being a "big day."
A photo posted by markballas (@markballas) on Aug 29, 2016 at 9:49pm PDT
As for Dovolani, the pro announced his lack of involvement with this season in a recent Instagram post of his own.
During my break from DWTS season 23. I look forward to traveling across the US to spend time with my DWTS fans, focus on my Dance with Me USA studios and its students, growing my Tony Dovolani Foundation: Golf for Special Needs Children and of course enjoying my family. After 21 consecutive seasons on DWTS, I consider them my second family and I look forward to watching all of my friends and family dance their hearts out this season. A photo posted by Tony dovolani (@tonydovolani) on Aug 25, 2016 at 9:57am PDT
The lineup of celebs and pros set to dance next season on Dancing With the Stars is as follows:
Jake T. Austin and Jenna Johnson
Babyface and Allison Holker
Marilu Henner and Derek Hough
Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy
James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess
Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson
Calvin Johnson and Lindsay Arnold
Terra Jolé and Sasha Farber
Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko
Ryan Lochte and Cheryl Burke
Maureen McCormick and Artem Chigvintsev
Rick Perry and Emma Slater
Amber Rose and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
The new season will also feature the return of Julianne Hough as a permanent judge, re-joining with Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli. Hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews are also returning to their positions.
Dancing With the Stars season 23 premieres Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
