‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 31 Is the First Season Without a Professional Athlete Contestant
Season 31 of Dancing With the Stars features several award-winning actors and popular reality TV stars. And for the first time in the show’s 17-year history, no professional athletes are competing.
Along with a breakdown of the new Dancing With the Stars cast, here’s a look at which athletes have competed over the years, and how well they have done.
The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ cast for Season 31 includes Selma Blair and Vinny Guadagnino
The cast for Dancing with the Stars Season 31 was announced on Good Morning America on Sept. 8, 2022. This year’s line-up spotlights an impressive list of actors: Selma Blair (Hellboy, Cruel Intentions), Daniel Durant (CODA), Jason Lewis (Sex and the City), Cheryl Ladd (Charlie’s Angels), and Trevor Donovan (90210).
The new season also features several popular reality TV stars. These include Vinny Guadagnino (MTV’s Jersey Shore), Teresa Guidice (The Real Housewives of New Jersey), Gabby Windey (The Bachelorette), Jordin Sparks (American Idol), Charlie D’Amelio and Heidi D’Amelio (The D’Amelio Show), and Shangela (Rupaul’s Drag Race).
TV host and personality Wayne Brady will also compete this season, alongside Good Morning America weatherman Sam Champion, model Joseph Baena, and singer Jessie James Decker.
Season 31 of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is the first with no athletes
Dancing With the Stars premiered in 2005. Since then, the ABC series has always had at least one professional athlete in the cast.
The show has featured Olympians, NBA, WNBA, MLB, and NFL stars, professional soccer players, champion boxers, and UFC fighters. Some of the most popular athletes to compete on the show include Evander Holyfield, Floyd Mayweather, Hope Solo, Sean Avery, Doug Flutie, and Nancy Kerrigan.
In 2018, the series aired Dancing With the Stars: Athletes, a season featuring an all-athlete cast. Tonya Harding, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Josh Norman were among the sporty all-star cast. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon emerged as the winner of the special four-week season.
Athletes tend to do well on ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Dancing with the Stars is an intense dance competition. It requires contestants to learn complicated choreography and rehearse for many hours a day. So some athletes, especially those already used to physical training and choreography, do particularly well.
Over the years, nearly a dozen athletes have won. The first was NFL running back Emmet Smith, who took home the crown in 2006.
The winners’ list includes several Olympians, like speed skater Apolo Ohno; figure skaters Kristi Yamaguchi, Meryl Davis, and Adam Rippon; and gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Laurie Hernandez. Other professional athletes who have won include NFL stars Hines Ward, Donald Driver, and Rashad Jennings. Brazilian auto racing driver Hélio Castroneves won too.
Last season, in 2021, basketball star Iman Shupert and his pro partner Daniella Karagach wowed judges and audiences with their amazing routines and performances. They won the season. And the victory made Shupert the very first NBA star to make it to the finale and win.
