'Dancing With the Stars' Season 17 Cast Rumors: Ryan Lochte Paired with Karina Smirnoff? [VIDEO]
One of the professional dancers on Dancing With the Stars revealed the first name of her partner on the new season.
Attending an event for POM Wonderful on Aug. 29, Karina Smirnoff teased the first name of her celebrity partner in the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.
"I'm just going to say my partner's first name is Ryan," Smirnoff told Entertainment Tonight. "So you go wild--Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling...you pick! But it's Ryan, and it is a hottie."
Based on Smirnoff's clue, Entertainment Tonight and other sites have speculated that she is referring to Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte. The swimmer, has his own reality series for E! called What Would Ryan Lochte Do? and won two gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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Fellow DWTS pro dancer Cheryl Burke was also in attendance at the POM Wonderful event and teased a clue about her new partner.
"He is someone I've never had before, and I've been on 16 seasons so you can do that process of elimination and figure it out," Burke said, after joking that it was international soccer player David Beckham.
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The season 17 cast will be filled with high-profile stars, both dancers said.
"We both agreed on the way to Vegas that it is the best cast we've had in 17 seasons," Smirnoff said. "I am super excited about this season."
Burke added that this was the first time she hasn't had to Google anyone in the new cast.
The official cast list of Dancing With the Stars season 17 will be announced on Wednesday, Sept. 4 on Good Morning America. Season 17 of the long-running dancing competition will premiere Monday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
