'DWTS' Season 31 Features 2 Fan-Favorite Pros Fans Haven't Seen in Years

By Libby Birk

Longtime Dancing With the Stars fans will be thrilled to see some familiar faces they haven't seen in a while over the next few weeks! Season 31 is featuring a lot of firsts – including a move to streaming, the show's first-ever drag queen competitor, and a brand-new host – but it's also offering some bites of nostalgia in bringing back two pro dancers fans haven't seen in a while: Mark Ballas and Louis van Amstel. Neither dancer has competed on the long-running dance show for years, with Ballas last competing in Season 25 in 2017 and van Amstel last competing in Season 21 in 2015.

Ballas, who remains a fan-favorite pro even years after his exit, has two Mirrorball Trophies under his belt. He won Season 6 with partner Kristi Yamaguchi as well as Season 8 with partner Shawn Johnson. He competed consistently from Seasons 5 through 22, at which point he took a break until he returned for Season 25 with violinist Lindsay Stirling; he hasn't competed since then – until now. For Season 31, he will be paired with TikTok star Charli D'Amelio.

Van Amstel doesn't have quite the track record of Ballas, but longtime fans will remember him from his time on the early seasons (Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 6) as well as Seasons 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 21. In Season 21, he competed with celebrity chef Paula Deen, finishing in 9th place. He has also worked as a troupe member and choreographer for the show. For Season 31, van Amstel will be paired with Charlie's Angels actress Cheryl Ladd.

Among Ballas and van Amstel's returns are other shakeups to the pro lineup, including the glaring absence of dancers Keo Motsepe, Lindsay Arnold, Sharna Burgess and Jenna Johnson. Arnold and Burgess both announced that they would not be returning for the new season due to personal reasons. Johnson has not spoken explicitly about not returning, although her absence should not be a surprise as she is pregnant with her and her husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy's first child.

Among the cast of celebrities for Season 31 of DWTS are:

  • Fitness model and actor Joseph Baena, son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, with partner Daniella Karagach
  • Selma Blair with partner Sasha Farber
  • Let's Make a Deal host Wayne Brady with partner Witney Carson
  • Good Morning America contributor and WABC-TV New York's weather anchor Sam Champion, with partner Cheryl Burke
  • TikTok star Charli D'Amelio with partner Mark Ballas
  • Heidi D'Amelio (The D'Amelio Show) with partner Artem Chigvintsev
  • Country star Jessie James Decker with partner Alan Bersten
  • Actor Trevor Donovan (90210) with partner Emma Slater
  • Actor Daniel Durant (CODA) with partner Britt Stewart
  • Teresa Giudice (The Real Housewives of New Jersey) with partner Pasha Pashkov
  • Vinny Guadagnino (Jersey Shore) with partner Koko Iwasaki
  • Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels) with partner Louis van Amstel
  • Actor Jason Lewis (Sex and the City) with partner Peta Murgatroyd
  • Drag queen superstar Shangela with partner Gleb Savchenko
  • Platinum recording artist Jordin Sparks with partner Brandon Armstrong
  • Gabby Windey (The Bachelorette) with partner Val Chmerkovskiy

The pairs will be judged by the usual panel of experts Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough. Host Tyra Banks will be joined by Season 19 winner Alfonso Ribeiro as a co-host. The show received a two-year renewal ahead of Season 31 and will air on Disney+, making it the first live series for the streaming platform.

Season 31 of Dancing With the Stars premieres Monday, Sept. 19 on Disney+.

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