ET's breaking down all of the stars who are rumored to be joining season 29 of the dance competition show.
Hey, all you cool cats and kittens… how would you feel if Carole Baskin made her way into the ballroom?
Following the exciting news that former Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe and Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean are set to compete during season of 29 of Dancing With the Stars, longtime fans have been wondering which other celebrities could be joining them.
Now, ET's breaking down all of the contestants who are rumored to be fighting for the mirrorball trophy.
Many fans on social media have their fingers crossed that Baskin -- the big-cat rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue who was heavily featured in Netflix's Tiger King docuseries -- will be on the official star lineup, which will be revealed Sept. 2 on Good Morning America.
Speaking to ET back in June, Bristowe's boyfriend, Jason Tartick, joked about the possibility of seeing her compete against Baskin.
"Imagine if you lose to Carole Baskin," he said, with Bristowe declaring, "I can't lose to Carole Baskin!"
Whether Baskin can actually dance is a mystery yet to be solved, though we did get a brief glimpse of some of her moves via Justin Bieber's social media back in May. Baskin submitted a video of her and her second husband, Howard, dancing around their living room in hopes of making it into Bieber and Ariana Grande's official music video for "Stuck With U."
"For the record, I did not allow or approve this clip to be in the actual video," Grande tweeted at the time. "But nonetheless, it exists and that's..... unique."
A Baskin-inspired TikTok dance (parodying the "Savage" dance challenge) also went viral earlier this year. Although Baskin didn't take part in the challenge herself, it's become one of the most popular (and funniest!) dance challenges on the app.
@calebjaxin CAROL BASKIN ##fyp ##foryoupage ##savage ##tigerking ##quarantine ##carolbaskin
♬ Savage Tiger King Edition - calebjaxin
Plus, Tiger King fans have been holding out hope for Baskin to do the show for months now.
"If Carole Baskin is not on Dancing With the Stars I will feed myself to a tiger," one fan joked in March, with another tweeting, "I would bet any amount of money that Carole Baskin ends up on Dancing With the Stars."
In addition to Baskin, Chrishell Stause and Anne Heche are also in talks to join the dance competition series, according to E! News, who reported on Monday that the two "are close to being confirmed." And with Stause's recent split from This Is Us star Justin Hartley being played out on season 3 of Selling Sunset, we could definitely see her channeling all those emotions in the ballroom.
A third Netflix star, Jerry Harris, is also rumored to be joining season 29. DailyMail reported earlier this month that the Cheer star had been approached to do the show.
"The way my friends who have never watched DWTS said they would definitely watch if Jerry is on," one fan tweeted in regard to the rumor, with another writing, "I need Jerry from Cheer to be [partnered] with Britt Stewart. Please, and thank you."
As for rumors that Dr. Anthony Fauci is participating? Well, he's a little busy right now, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A source tells ET that the producers at DWTS wanted Dr. Fauci on the show, but knowing that he has other priorities at the moment, they never sent him an official offer.
Other popular names that fans are throwing into the ring on social media include Sofia Carson, who recently starred in Netflix's Feel the Beat, along with The Masked Singer season 3 runner-up Jesse McCartney. Younger fans would also like to see "any TikTok star" compete, with many hoping for Charli or Dixie D'Amelio. Disney star Skai Jackson and rapper Nelly have also been on DWTS fans' radar.
While we patiently wait for ABC to release the official full list of celebrities next month, watch the video below to hear what returning pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev teased about the all-new DWTS ballroom.
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