“Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” Begins Monday Night on ABC
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ABC(NEW YORK) — Several of Dancing with the Stars’ most popular celebrities will return to the ballroom Monday night, when the ABC competition kicks off its 15th season.
Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars will feature 13 of the show’s most notable alumni, including former champions Kelly Monaco, Emmitt Smith, Shawn Johnson, Apolo Anton Ohno and Helio Castroneves. Memorable finalists Bristol Palin and Kirstie Alley are also part of the cast.
Smith says all of the stars will feel pressure to do well on the dance floor. He says the stakes are higher for each of them because “before the expectations were very low. But now the expectations are extremely high.”
On the two-hour season premiere, which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time, the all-stars will dance either the cha cha cha or the foxtrot. The first elimination of the season is scheduled for the following night.
Entertainment Weekly’s Dancing with the Stars expert, Annie Barrett, predicts that Gilles Marini will be the front-runner to win the Mirror Ball trophy, while Pamela Anderson or Bristol Palin will be the most likely to get the boot this week.
The fifth-season premiere of Castle follows Dancing with the Stars at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
Here’s a rundown of the all-stars and their pro dancing partners:
- Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff
- Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas
- Drew Lachey and Anna Trebunskaya
- Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke
- Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd
- Helio Castroneves and Chelsie Hightower
- Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson
- Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovskiy
- Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
- Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani
- Pamela Anderson and Tristan MacManus
- Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel
- Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough
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