After weeks of anticipation, the partners were finally revealed during the season 28 premiere on Monday.
Dancing With the Stars is back, and the partnerships are finally in!
Ever since the season 28 cast was revealed last month, fans have been patiently waiting to find out which pros the stars would be paired up with in the ballroom. ABC later announced that for the first time ever, the celeb-pro pairings wouldn't be unveiled until premiere night, leading many DWTS sleuths on social media to come up with their own dream teams.
Now, we finally have the official list of season 28 partners, and we're happy to report that many of the fan guesses were spot-on. Take a look:
James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater
Lamar Odom and Peta Murgatroyd
Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber
Karamo Brown and Jenna Johnson
Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko
Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson
Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten
Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Val Chmerkovskiy
(*Replacing her mother, Christie Brinkley)
Kate Flannery and Pasha Pashkov
Mary Wilson and Brandon Armstrong
Ray Lewis and Cheryl Burke
Sean Spicer and Lindsay Arnold
That leaves pros Keo Mostepe and Daniella Karagach without partners, and therefore unqualified to take home a mirrorball trophy this season.
During the dance competition show's panel at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, last month, executive producer Andrew Llinares revealed that, at the time, he was the only one who knew the celeb-pro pairings.
"Well, we wanted to do something a little different this year… We want to keep it fresh for you guys," he said. "No one knows their partner but they’ll find out within the next few days because they start training soon."
"I know [the pairings]," he added, "but we'll reveal it on premiere night. Everyone keeps coming up to me trying to trick me."
What do YOU think of these pairings? Which team will you be rooting for this season? Let us know on Twitter (@desireemurphy_ and @etnow) and share all your thoughts with us about the new format changes in our Beyond the Ballroom Facebook group.
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