On Tuesday, August 18, ABC announced the 14 pro dancers who will compete to kick off the Mirror Ball Trophy in the 29th season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on September 14: Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater en Britt Stewart. (Click above to view them all in our gallery above.)
Of those, Karagach and Stewart will be new professors, having previously been shown as troupe dancers. Karagach is married to Pashkov, who made his debut as a pro dancer in season 28 of “DWTS” last fall in season 28, where he collaborated with “The Office” star Kate Flannery. Before joining the cast of this show, the couple competed together in NBC’s dance competition series “World of Dance.”
Burgess and Motsepe are back after the show. Both made it to the finals in season 27 – Burgess won with Bobby Bones, while Motsepe finished third Evanna Lynch – but neither competed in season 28, so it’s been two years since we saw them for the title.
Among others, longtime fan favorites Burke, Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd are two-time winners of the Mirror Ball Trophy, while one-time champions include Johnson and Slater. Bersten is relatively new to competition on the show as a full-time pro, but he’s actually the defending Mirror Ball champion, having won season 28 with “The Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown.
Veterans Farber and Savchenko are still awaiting their first victories on the show, as are relative newcomers Armstrong and Pashkov. And of course, new pro dancers Karagach and Stewart are hoping for beginning luck. We should not underestimate them. Pros have won the competition on their first or second thread multiple times before.
The celebrities who will be dancing with the pros will be officially unveiled during the premiere of the ‘DWTS’ season. Until then, vote in our question below to let us know who is your favorite pro who has just been announced for the competition.
