Although she will not be competing on the grandest world stage of them all at the 2012 London Olympics, Shawn Johnson will indeed be returning to the ballroom for the "Dancing With the Stars: All Stars" season.

According to iVillage, the retired Gold medal gymnast had the following to say regarding the time she was first asked to appear on season 8 of the hit show:

"[The Dancing with the Stars producers] called the day I retired," Johnson said from the London Games, where she is a TODAY special correspondent.

Although the former Olympian and her dancing partner Mark Ballas had taken home the crown in season 8 of DWTS, she surprisingly didn't jump at the chance to return to the floor; as she was then still contemplating a comeback to the balance beam.

"It was a really hard decision for me to make, I wanted to say yes right away but there was so much going on, I didn't know if it would be a right fit, if I was mentally ready for it and with everything going on. I didn't really get to finish out the competition and the comeback of [my gymnastics] career, but maybe I could do it on DWTS," she stated.

With the likes of past champions such as Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno and former NFL star Emmitt Smith amidst the all-star cast, Johnson indeed knows she has her work cut out for her on the show.

It's going to be hard, and there are so many good dancers. I'm so excited, I'm terrified, it's a whole new world," she admitted.


ABC's "Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars" is set to premiere Monday, September 24th at 8p.m.

Tags
Dancing with the Stars, Celebrities