Good Morning America announced the cast of season 33 of Dancing with the Stars on Wednesday, September 4. The cast includes many familiar returner names such as Val Chmerkovskiy, Rylee Arnold, Witney Carson, and others. This season brings in a couple new faces that aren’t necessarily new. These faces are certainly new to the show, but not new on television, and certainly not new to sports fans. This season brings in talented athletes from all different corners of the athletics world.
Danny Amendola is a former NFL player who was a wide receiver for the New England Patriots. He started his career with the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles as a practice squad player, before finally cracking an active roster with the then St. Louis Rams for four seasons, then became a Patriot for five seasons. Amendola won two Superbowls with the Patriots before retiring in 2022. His partner for the season is Witney Carson.
Joey Graziadei was the runner up in season 20 of “The Bachelorette” and engaged to Kelsey Anderson in season 28 of “The Bachelor”. He can be included in this list of athletes because he was a former tennis player in high school and college at West Chester University and is now a tennis coach. His partner for the season is Jenna Johnson.
Ilona Maher is currently a professional rugby player who played on the U.S. women’s rugby team in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team did very well for the U.S. as they earned a bronze medal, their first Olympic medal in the event in team history. Her partner for the season is Alan Bersten.
Former NBA star, Dwight Howard will be partnered up with Daniella Karagach for this season. Howard has played in the National Basketball Association for 18 seasons. He has played for Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards, and won the 2020 NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stephen Nedoroscik is also a 2024 Paris Olympian. He won two bronze medals in the pommel horse specialist category on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team. Nedoroscik has won four pommel horse titles in his gymnastics career thus far. His partner this season is Rylee Arnold.
Freshman Leiah Hardy on the Wayne State dance team is a huge Dancing with the Stars fan. She is excited to watch the new season and see how the athletes perform. She talked about some challenges that these athletes might face going from their sport to dance.
“They are very stiff, and so when they are doing their dances it’s harder for them to be fluid and flowy with their movement,” Hardy said.
For every sport, preparation and warmup will be different. The athletes will need to find their warmup and see what kind of preparation they need to do to get ready for a practice or performance.
“You want to be warm, doing cardio first, then stretching, being a full body stretch so that every single one of your muscles are ready to go,” Hardy said.
The athletes will be in good hands with their pro partners because they have experienced the show before and know what to expect. There are some tips and recommendations that the returners can give to the newbies.
“Just having fun is the biggest thing,” Hardy said. Having fun is what’s going to put a real smile on your face.
None of these athletes have danced competitively before so this will be a brand-new experience for them. Further, this could positively or negatively impact their pro partner. It could either be an advantage or disadvantage, because the sport they played could have an impact on their dance skills.
“Stephen Nedoroscik was showing some of his pommel horse on the flat ground, so he was break-dancing on the ground basically, and he has probably never done that before”, Hardy said. “Then you also have the NBA players who are so tall and can do these crazy lifts with their partner.”
Viewers are very excited for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. The pro partners will obviously receive a warm welcome from the audience. Hopefully the athletes will also receive a warm welcome as they bring new energy into this season.