After Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess sashayed their way to the Mirrorball Trophy in Season 27 of ABC’s popular dancing competition, fans are still wondering who will be taking the stage and clamoring for the prize in Dancing With the Stars Season 28. Thankfully, they will not have to wait very much longer, as cast members for the upcoming season are expected to be announced not this week, but sometime soon after.
Host Tom Bergeron confirmed that cast announcement news was just around the corner on Friday, Aug. 9, stating that it would not be happening this week.
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It seems likely that the announcement will come sometime during the week of Monday, Aug. 19, or shortly thereafter.
Not next week. But not too much beyond next week. 😉 https://t.co/W4BiAnfMjC
— Tom Bergeron (@Tom_Bergeron) August 9, 2019
Casting announcements were initially supposed to be made during the Monday, Aug. 5 broadcast of ABC’s Good Morning America, though they were postponed following the tragic mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which took a combined total of more than 30 lives and injured dozens more.
I assume given coverage of the domestic terrorist shootings in Texas & Ohio @GMA wisely opted to delay it
— Tom Bergeron (@Tom_Bergeron) August 5, 2019
In the past, the casting for the popular ABC competition series’ fall seasons has typically been announced in the latter weeks of August. The first announcement typically reveals that professional dancers for the season, while a second announcement shortly after reveals the stars that they will be paired with.
For comparison, the professional dancers for Season 27 were announced on Aug. 28, with the first celebrity being announced just a week later on Sept. 5 followed by the full cast announcement on Sept. 12, according to Gold Derby.
ABC renewed Dancing With the Stars for its upcoming season back in May, with it being confirmed earlier this month that Season 28 will see some major formatting changes that will shift “the focus of the show to really focus on it being a celebration of dance, and also focusing on the celebrities.”
Exact details of the formatting changes remain unclear, though the competition had faced backlash surrounding its voting and elimination process after Bones took home the Mirrorball Trophy despite other contestants receiving higher scores with the judges.
Season 28 of Dancing With the Stars premiered Monday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
