‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pros Announced for Season 28

Dancing With the Stars is bringing back plenty of fan-favorite pros for Season 28 to go along with its star-studded cast, the ABC dance competition show announced Wednesday on Good Morning America. Ahead of the Sept. 16 season premiere, the newly-announced cast had fans ready to put on their dancing shoes and head to the ballroom.

Returning to the dance room this year 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 dating his former DWTS partner, Nikki Bella.

While the pairings won’t be announced until the season premiere day, we now know the stars the pros will be working with: 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.

The pros definitely have their work cut out for them, with judge Carrie Ann Inaba telling PopCulture.com ahead of the new season that her expectations only rise every year when it comes to the pros.

“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.”

Inaba added she wants the season to “feel different” than in past years, which for The Talk co-host, means getting harder on the pairs from behind the judging panel alongside Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman.

“I want to be a little tougher,” Inaba explained. “I’m a very compassionate judge, but I want to be even stricter.”

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

Photo credit: ABC