‘Dancing With the Stars’ Announces Major Change Ahead of Season 28

Dancing With the Stars fans won’t be able to pick their favorite pair to win the Mirrorball Trophy for Season 28 just yet! During Wednesday’s big cast reveal on Good Morning America, host Tom Bergeron revealed that for the first time, fans won’t know which pro will be paired with which celebrity until the night of the Sept. 16 premiere.

“I will still be with [co-host Erin Andrews], but other than that, we’re not telling you,” Bergeron joked.

There’s definitely potential for some power couples out there, with a seriously stacked list of stars taking to the ballroom: Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown, country star Lauren Alaina, Dawson Creek‘s James Van Der Beek, NFL legend Ray Lewis, The Office‘s Kate Flannery, The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown, pop star Ally Brooke, NBA alum Lamar Odom, actor Kel Mitchell, former White House staffer Sean Spicer, The Supremes’ Mary Wilson and model Christie Brinkley.

Returning to the ballroom on the pro side are Peta Murgatroyd, Cheryl Burke, Gleb Savchenko, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Lindsay Arnold, Sasha Farber, Alan Bersten, Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Pasha Pashkov, and Brandon Armstrong, all of whom were shown dancing during the cast announcement. Notably missing from the line up was Artem Chigvintsev, who is currently in the spotlight due to his relationship with his former DWTS partner, Nikki Bella.

They’ll certainly have their work cut out for them, with judge Carrie Ann Inaba telling PopCulture.com ahead of the premiere she plans on taking the show up a level this year.

“I have to say, the truth is my expectations are going way up this year,” she admitted. “As we head into Season 28, and because we’ve had a year off, I want to see greatness. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Dancing With the Stars Season 28 kicks off Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC / Eric McCandless