‘Dancing with the Stars 23’: Is Cheryl Burke returning to work with Ryan Lochte?

Is “Dancing with the Stars” getting super-nostalgic for the early seasons this fall? The more we’re hearing, the more we are starting to feel like that is the case.

We recently heard that Maksim Chmerkovskiy was returning to the ballroom after several seasons off the show, while Derek Hough and Allison Holker were each coming back after a season off. Now, Perez Hilton claims that Cheryl Burke is returning for her first season in years, and could be performing with the controversial Olympian Ryan Lochte on the season.

If Cheryl comes back, it is a reason to get a little more excited for this team than we were previously. The pro has won the show with the likes of Drew Lachey and Emmett Smith, and was considered at one point to be the most-dominant pro dancer around. (Hough now holds the title for most Mirrorball Trophies.) While she wasn’t around for the first season, season 2 was really when the series started to take off as a runaway hit and she was certainly present for that.

The aforementioned site also claims that Hough could be dancing this season with former “Taxi” star Marilu Henner; if that is true, it’d give us a rare opportunity to see him dance with an older contestant who may not be as predisposed to being a great dancer. Jennifer Grey was the last older celebrity he partnered with, but given that she was the star of “Dirty Dancing,” there was a certain expectation that she’d be decent. Hopefully (if this is true), this pairing can be seen as evidence that Derek isn’t just automatically given the Star in the winner’s circle from the get-go.

The official cast announcement is coming tomorrow, but for now you can head over here to read some other news and headlines! Also, sign up over here to get some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)