'Dancing With the Stars' 2022: Cast Revealed for Season 31
Dancing With the Stars is returning for its 31st season with a star-studded cast! The list of celebrities who will be battling it out for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy was announced this week. Just a day after confirming that the show's first mother-daughter duo, TikTok Star Charli D'Amelio and her mom Heidi D'Amelio, will be heading to the ballroom, the complete Dancing With the Stars Season 31 cast, including the celebrities and their pro dancer partners, was revealed Thursday morning.
This year's cast includes plenty of firsts. In addition to the first mother-daughter-duo, actor and performer D.J. "Shangela" Pierce, who was the first contestant to compete on three separate seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, will vie for the Mirrorball Trophy as DWTS' first-ever drag queen competitor. Shangela will be paired with returning pro dancer Gleb Savchenko.
Joining Shangela and Savchenko in the ballroom this year will be The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice with partner Pasha Pashkov, actor and comedian Wayne Brady with partner Witney Carson, and actress Selma Blair with partner Sasha Farber. Meanwhile, those rumors that Arnold Schwarzenegger's son and fitness model Joseph Baena would compete turned out to be true, with Baena set to dance alongside pro dancer Daniella Karagach.
Also joining the competition are Good Morning America contributor and WABC-TV New York's weather anchor Sam Champion with partner Cheryl Burke, country music star Jessie James Decker with partner Alan Bersten, 90210 actor Trevor Donovan with pro Emma Slater, CODA actor Daniel Durant with Britt Stewart, Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd with Louis van Amstel, Sex and the City's Jason Lewis with pro Peta Murgatroyd, and platinum recording artist Jordin Sparks with partner Brandon Armstrong. Representing the reality TV front alongside Guidice will be Jersey Shore's Vinny Guadagnino, who will dance alongside partner Koko Iwasaki. Meanwhile, The Bachelorette's Gabby Windey is paired with Val Chmerkovskiy. Rounding out the cast are the D'Amelios, whose castings were confirmed Wednesday. The youngest D'Amelio will dance alongside Mark Ballas, with her mother partnered with Artem Chigvintsev.
Shangela make DWTS history not only as the competition's first-ever drag queen competitor but also by being the first male celebrity contestant to be paired with a male professional dancer. The move comes as Season 30 saw the competition's first female celebrity paired with a female pro dancer when JoJo Siwa and Jenna Jonhosn danced on stage together.
"It was jaw on the floor. I feel so grateful and have not missed out on how momentous this is. And I want to rise to the occasion, baby," Shangela, who first met Savchenko last week while filming the Season 3 finale of HBO's We're Here in New Jersey, told USA Today. "This is something totally different because I'm a drag entertainer who will be standing up there."
This year's celebrities and pros will be critiqued by returning judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough. Tyra Banks, meanwhile, returns to host alongside new co-host Alfonso Ribeiro, the Season 19 winner. Dancing With the Stars Season 31 premieres on Monday, Sept. 19 on Disney+.