‘Dancing with the Stars’ 18: Cody Simpson, NeNe Leakes, Drew Carey in official cast
The “Dancing with the Stars” cast is now official, and for many longtime fans of the show, that only means one thing: An opportunity for anyone and everyone to complain about how bad this cast is. Seriously, this happens every season time, just as there are also a massive amount of people who get up on a high horse and proclaim that they are never going to watch the show again.
Even with all of this being said, this feels like a very weak cast. There are too many athletes, not enough people with a sense of humor, and also a few people that no one has really heard of. We’re at least familiar with a good 80% of the cast, but if you had asked us a month ago before the Sochi Olympics, that would not be the case.
Here are the celebrities competing this season, along with the professional partners being paired with them.
Amy Purdy – Snowboarder, who lost both legs at the age of 19. She is also a former “Amazing Race” contestant (Amy & Daniel, season 21) and is competing with Derek Hough.
Candice Cameron-Bure – Former star of “Full House,” dancing with Mark Ballas.
Billy Dee Williams – “Star Wars” legend, dancing this season with Emma Slater.
Charlie White – Olympic gold medalist in ice dancing, paired with Sharna Burgess
Cody Simpson – Singer / teen idol, performing with Whitney Carson
Diana Nyad – Long-distance swimmer, paired with Henry Byalikov
Drew Carey – Host of “The Price Is Right,” paired with Cheryl Burke
James Maslow – Member of Big Time Rush, paired with Peta Murgatroyd
Danica McKellar – Winnie Cooper from “The Wonder Years,” paired with Val Chmerkovskiy
Meryl Davis – Olympic gold medalist for ice dancing, paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy
NeNe Leakes – “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, paired with Tony Dovolani
Sean Avery – Former hockey star, paired with Karina Smirnoff
Of this group, you can easily sit here and roll your eyes at some of the more unbalanced selections. For example, is there any universe in which it is fair to make a man in his seventies compete against two people who have already won gold medals in a form of dancing? We’ll save you a lot of time here if we tell you to just fast-forward until May, where the two dancers are in the finale together against some poor soul with no chance.
Overall, what do you think about this cast? Be sure to share below, and head over here if you want to read more news about Erin Andrews joining as the new co-host.
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Photo: ABC