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Dancing with the Stars cast announced

 

The season 16 cast of Dancing With the Stars was announced Tuesday morning on Good Morning America, and it’s a motley crew, all right.

We’ve got the usual suspects, including athletes, a reality star, a train wreck, a soap opera person and Disney princess. The only type missing is a fixture from the 1980s a la Ralph Macchio and Jennifer Grey.

Some bold faced names have actually turned down the offer to work on the hit show, since it first started in 2005 on ABC. Entertainment Weekly reported recently that Lance Armstrong had been repeatedly asked but had no interest. Lindsay Lohan, surprisingly, didn’t either, despite a hefty $500,000 payout, says TMZ. No worries, you can catch Lindsay playing herself, as a therapy patient, in an upcoming episode of Charlie Sheen’s FX sitcom Anger Management.

And ABC News reported that First Lady wannabe Ann Romney was thisclose to joining the dance floor but ultimately ixnayed the idea — or was it Mitt who did? ( Michelle Obama sure loves the Hollywood spotlight; what about her?).

So, these are the stars we are going to contend with for season 16 starting up March 28: Country singer Wynonna Judd; comedian D.L. Hughley; Real Housewives of Beverly Hills/Vanderpump Rules diva Lisa Vanderpump; troublemaker Andy Dick; boxer and Puerto Rican politician Victor Ortiz; Disney star Zendaya Coleman; Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman; General Hospital’s Ingo Rademacher; singer Kellie Pickler; and legendary figure skater Dorothy Hamill.

The pairings are as follows: Judd and Tony Dovolani; Hughley and Cheryl Burke; Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff; Vanderpump and new dancer Gleb Savchenko; Dick and new dancer Sharna Burgess; Ortiz and new dancer Lindsay Arnold; Coleman and Val Chmerkovskiy; Raisman and Mark Ballas; Rademacher and Kym Johnson; Pickler and Derek Hough; and Hamill and Tristan MacManus.

Is a name missing there? Yup. Don’t expect to see Maksim Chmerkovskiy this season. The bad boy, 33, told Life & Style in a statement that he left the show to pursue acting opportunities.

ABC says it’s customary for dancers to take a break to focus on their careers out of the ballroom.

“We frequently rotate the professional dancers, so it is not unusual for them to rest a cycle,” an ABC spokesperson tells the magazine. “As we consider who will be matched up each season, there are a lot of factors that dictate which couples make the best pairings. We appreciate each of our dancers dedication to the show, so this is a very difficult decision. Anna, Chelsie, Maks and Louis continue to be a part of the Dancing With the Stars family.”

Maks will next be seen on TV’s Giant Baby, his former partner Kirstie Alley’s new show about the personal life of a Broadway star. It costars Seinfeld star Michael Richards.

Follow the writer www.Twitter.com/madeleinemarr

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