Dancing With the Stars Season 30 is approaching fast, with the much-loved ABC show set to return on Monday, September 20, at 8 p.m. E.T. The celebrity-professional pairings will be revealed during the season premiere. For now, all we know is the list of 15 celebrities taking to the floor in a bid to lift the Mirrorball Trophy and the 15 professional dancers who will train them.
The Celebrities
JoJo Siwa
YouTube personality and actress JoJo Siwa, 18, will make Dancing With the Stars history as the first celebrity to be paired with a professional of the same sex.
Suni Lee
Olympic gold-winning gymnast Suni Lee, 18, was one of the first contestants to be announced.
Lee is taking to the dancefloor hot on the heels of the Tokyo 2020 Games, where she won gold in the women's artistic individual all-around competition and bronze in the uneven bars final.
Lee is the seventh Olympic gymnast to compete on the show following Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles and Mary Lou Retton.
Melanie C
Spice Girls singer Melanie C will also be joining the contest.
Matt James
Matt James is best known for competing in Season 25 of The Bachelor, when he was the first African American lead in the dating show.
Announcing the news on Instagram, James posted a picture of himself with Dancing With the Stars co-stars Suni Lee and Olivia Jade.
Kenya Moore
Kenya Moore from The Real Housewives of Atlanta also announced the news on Instagram, writing: "Dreams do come true."
She posted: "Yaaaayyyyyy! So excited to join the cast of @dancingabc This has been a dream of mine for over 20 years! This is for you @thebrooklyndaly and my late grandmother Doris who introduced me to dancing through a community center in Detroit!"
Jimmie Allen
Country music singer Jimmie Allen will be swapping his microphone for a pair of dancing shoes in Season 30.
Amanda Kloots
Television presenter Amanda Kloots is no stranger to dancing, having performed as part of the ensemble in several Broadway musicals. She is also a former member of the Rockettes troupe.
Writing on Instagram, Kloots said she was "freaking out" about taking part in the show.
Christine Chiu
Bling Empire breakout star Christine Chiu will likely be covered head to toe in sparkle during her time on Dancing With the Stars.
Melora Hardin
Emmy-nominated actress Melora Hardin, best known as Jan in The Office and Jacqueline Carlyle in The Bold Type is taking part in Dancing With the Stars 2021.
Olivia Jade
YouTuber Olivia Jade, who is the daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, will also compete in Season 30.
Martin Kove
Karate Kid and Cobra Kai star Martin Kove is part of the line-up for ABC's dance contest.
Mike "The Miz" Mizanin
Mike "The Miz" Mizanin is swapping the wrestling ring for the dancefloor this fall.
On Instagram, Mizanin joked about learning some different moves.
He wrote: "I'm learning the Paso Doble, Argentine Tango, Waltz, and FoxTrot are very different moves than a Skull Crushing Finale or Figure Four Leg Lock. Honored and excited to be apart of the Season 30 cast of @dancingabc now let's get to work. #DWTS."
Cody Rigsby
Fitness personality and Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby is one of the 15 famous faces competing in Dancing With the Stars.
Brian Austin Green
Actor Brian Austin Green, best known for his roles as David Silver in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sean Healy in Anger Management, will compete on Dancing With the Stars.
Iman Shumpert
Professional NBA player Iman Shumpert is the second athlete taking to the Dancing With the Stars stage this year
The Professionals
Two professional dancers—Lindsay Arnold and Witney Carson—return to the line-up this year after having babies.
Two-time Dancing With the Stars champion Peta Murgatroyd and South African Latin and ballroom dancer Keo Motsepe will not be a part of the professional line-up in Season 30, however.
The full line-up is:
- Brandon Armstrong
- Alan Bersten
- Artem Chigvintsev
- Val Chmerkovskiy
- Sasha Farber
- Pasha Pashkov
- Gleb Savchenko
- Lindsay Arnold
- Sharna Burgess
- Cheryl Burke
- Witney Carson
- Jenna Johnson
- Daniella Karagach
- Emma Slater
- Britt Stewart
The judging panel for the 30th season of Dancing With the Stars includes Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and former pro Derek Hough.
Dancing With the Stars begins on September 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more
