‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestant Pulls Out Amid WGA Strike

Just days ahead of its season premiere, Dancing With the Stars Season 32 is without one celebrity contestant. Actor Matt Walsh, who was set to compete alongside pro dancer Koko Iwasaki, has paused his involvement in the competition until the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) come to an agreement.

Walsh confirmed his decision to step back from the competition in a statement to Deadline, telling the outlet, “I am taking a pause from Dancing with the Stars until an agreement is made with the WGA.” Although Walsh said he was “excited to join the show and did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement,” he explained that the WGA, his union, informed him Thursday morning that it is considered struck work I walked out of my rehearsal. I have been and will always stand with my union members of the WGA, SAG and DGA.”

“Beyond our union artists, I am sensitive to the many people impacted by the strike and I hope for a speedy and fair resolution, and to one day work again with all the wonderful people I met at DWTS who tolerated my dancing,” Walsh, who has been picketing during the SAG-AFTRA strike at Disney’s Burbank studio and who also was the only celebrity to miss the Sept. 13 cast announcement on Good Morning America, added.

The fate of the upcoming season of DWTS is currently in limbo, with recent reports suggesting that ABC is considering delaying the upcoming premiere of the season due to the strike. The hit series has come under pressure in recent days amid the ongoing strike, with Walsh being targeted Wednesday as picketers surrounded the DWTS rehearsal hall. Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and How I Met Your Mother‘s Alyson Hannigan, also competing in Season 32, were also targeted.

At this time, Dancing With the Stars Season 32 is set to premiere on Sept. 26, but former DWTS pro dancer Cheryl Burke has joined the calls for the show to delay production. Burke told Variety, “I don’t think it’s gonna be good for the show, to be quite honest, in the long run. I understand what they’re thinking and I get it. It’s a business, but there is no business without the rest of the business… I think they should hold tight. I think we need to stand as one. We need to unite for real and not just say we’re united.”

Dancing With the Stars employs a crew of 500 people, and has one WGA writer on staff. Amid the strike, per Variety, the show’s contestant video packages will not mention or show any of their former SAG-AFTRA projects, which cannot be promoted during the strike. During the previous strike in 2007-2008, the ABC series remained in production.