'Dancing with the Stars' season 24 premiere date set; find out which Hough sibling is not coming back and which is still in talks
A new year means a new season for the cult reality competition "Dancing with the Stars." Now on its 24th season, ABC has finally announced when the show will be back on air with a slew of new competitors.
Courtesy of an official statement from the network's official website, fans can already mark the 20th of March in their calendars as the premiere of the latest iteration of the dancing show.
"ABC's #1 hit reality show returns with an all-new season on Monday, March 20, 2017. Springtime will be filled with sambas, salsas and spray tans as well as a brand-new "Dancing with the Stars" cast," an excerpt from the announcement reads.
While season 24 has already penciled in a premiere date, the complete list of stars and their pro-dancer counterparts has yet to be confirmed. However, in a chit-chat with Glamour magazine during ABC's panel in the recently held Television Critics Association winter press tour, EP Rob Wade dropped a few names set to be partaking. Apparently, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman will be back. While "Dancing with the Stars" veteran Derek Hough is already set to sit the forthcoming season out.
"Derek's not coming back because he's doing the Move [Beyond] Live tour," Wade revealed, which he later reiterated when pressed about a recent history of a press statement being released about him not being involved only to appear eventually.
The other Hough meanwhile is still in talks to ultimately be a part of season 24. This is despite her jam-packed year with her impending wedding as well as working on the "Move" tour.
"Julianne, as you know, is getting married at the end of the season, but she's also doing the Move [Beyond] Live on Tour. Mondays are her day off on the Move tour, so there's a possibility she'll be back. We're working on that at the moment, schedule-wise," the show exec said.
So if Julianne is busier how come she can be part of the series and Derek can flatly not? Wade chalks it up to the amount of work the two have on the live project tour that they are working on. As it turns out, the former "needs to only be here for half a Monday. Derek would need to train [all week with his partner], so it's not going to happen."