General Gabbery: DWTS

[Maya S]

3 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

IMHO, J.R. Martinez was legitimately the best dancer of his season (better than Rob Kardashian and Ricki Lake) and I don't know that he would have been a drastically different dancer without his challenges. 

Nyle was good given his challenges, but was not the best dancer of his season. Paige Van Zant was better and Jodie Sweetin was better as well. 

I feel like the show played up Bonner's sex appeal more than the challenges that he experienced when he broke his neck, because I hardly remembered that he had challenges. Plus, Terra Jole was in Bonner's season. 

I would say that the only other "challenge" contestant who I felt was good enough to win, yet who didn't, was Amy Purdy. She was legitimately good (Derek or no Derek), but lost because she was on the same season as Meryl.

Terra was on season 23, Bonner was on season 24.  

[Emily-D]

Was J.R Martinez physically challenged though? Yes he had serious burn scars over his face and body but I wouldn’t say he was “physically challenged”. He was a former vet still in great shape, I wouldn’t class him as a properly physically challenged celeb. Bonner and Victoria also fall into that category as their pros didn’t really need to significantly alter how they taught and choreographed for them. 

IMO the only contestants we’ve had that genuinely fall into the “physically challenged” category are Amy, Noah and Nyle.

 

A quick search tells me that this paralympian is blind and has MS so for me goes into the Amy, Noah and Nyle category. She’s in her mid 40s with no dance experience so I don’t see her being a good enough dancer to challenge the winning spots. But she’s a paralympian so she’ll have a work ethic which will help. Most importantly for her obviously is that she gets the right pro, surely they won’t entrust Keo or the newbie pro with someone like her would they? It could genuinely be a car crash on the floor.

[Toonces464]

54 minutes ago, Emily-D said:

IMO the only contestants we’ve had that genuinely fall into the “physically challenged” category are Amy, Noah and Nyle.

Marlee Matlin, Heather Mills.......

 

55 minutes ago, Emily-D said:

A quick search tells me that this paralympian is blind and has MS so for me goes into the Amy, Noah and Nyle category. She’s in her mid 40s with no dance experience so I don’t see her being a good enough dancer to challenge the winning spots. But she’s a paralympian so she’ll have a work ethic which will help. Most importantly for her obviously is that she gets the right pro, surely they won’t entrust Keo or the newbie pro with someone like her would they? It could genuinely be a car crash on the floor.

The rumor I've seen is that she's with Artem.

[Emily-D]

I guess those two must have been before my time watching the show regularly as I have zero recollection of either.

[Toonces464]

36 minutes ago, Emily-D said:

I guess those two must have been before my time watching the show regularly as I have zero recollection of either.

Heather Mills was on Season 4 and Marlee Matlin was on Season 6.

[Emily-D]

12 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

Heather Mills was on Season 4 and Marlee Matlin was on Season 6.

Ah yes so before my time. Apologies. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Instagram sleuths seem to think Bobby Bones, Country Radio Personality extraordinaire and recent American Idol "Mentor or some such title" this past year (ABC tie in!!) could be Sharna's partner...

Speaking of having to google more and more of these cast members, new buzz flying around today is that Joe the Grocery Store Owner guy from this season of the Bachelorette is in the cast (there's some buzz that maybe Becca herself is in too, but since that's never happened once in the history of DWTS....I'm taking that rumor with pounds and pounds of salt).

There's also some buzz (and evidence from Lindsay's own IG page) that Lindsay is in Texas to meet her partner and he's yet another football guy. I've seen crazy rumors that it could be Tony Romo or Terry Bradshaw, but a more likely possibility is DeMarcus Ware who just retired from the Houston Texans at the end of last season.

[vdw84]

Im so tired of the football players. They all dance the same to me and it just gets boring after awhile.

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

There's also some buzz (and evidence from Lindsay's own IG page) that Lindsay is in Texas to meet her partner and he's yet another football guy. I've seen crazy rumors that it could be Tony Romo or Terry Bradshaw, but a more likely possibility is DeMarcus Ware who just retired from the Houston Texans at the end of last season.

I can't see Terry Bradshaw or Tony Romo doing it during football season.

[McManda]

5 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

The rumor I've seen is that she's with Artem.

This is probably legit, then. Artem had an insta-story today about how he's in Park City, Utah and the altitude is getting to him. He also said he's met his partner.

I guess Artem's officially been relegated to Tony status. That's a bummer.

Also on insta-story, Sharna is in Nashville and has met her partner. She also ran into another pro, so seems like two celebs this season are from there.

[Fellaway]

6 hours ago, Emily-D said:

Was J.R Martinez physically challenged though? Yes he had serious burn scars over his face and body but I wouldn’t say he was “physically challenged”. He was a former vet still in great shape, I wouldn’t class him as a properly physically challenged celeb. Bonner and Victoria also fall into that category as their pros didn’t really need to significantly alter how they taught and choreographed for them. 

I remember him saying he couldn't stretch parts of his body normally because of the scarring, so he was physically challenged to a degree, though I couldn't say if it was on par with someone missing a limb or one of their senses.

[boyznkatz]

On 9/1/2018 at 9:38 AM, crowceilidh said:

It doesn't seem right to me that the female pros are identified by their hair colour ("we don't need more blondes" kinda thing) and male pros are not (can you imagine? "we don't need more brunettes") (I am not excusing myself from this thinking at all). Can somebody explain why we do this and whether there's a way in which it could be seen as not being sexist?

Well, I don't have a problem with blond hair per se. I was just referring to most all the pros being white. I would like to see more diversity with the pros like they have with the contestants.

[boyznkatz]

On 8/31/2018 at 5:16 PM, madpsych78 said:

I liked Peta with Tommy Chong.

Wasn't he before Nyle, though? Peta actually used to be quite good. I guess Maks rubbed off on her, and not in a good way.

[DEL901]

3 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

Wasn't he before Nyle, though? Peta actually used to be quite good. I guess Maks rubbed off on her, and not in a good way.

Oh, she had problems before Maks.  Remember how she ruined Giles during All Stars.   He’d been great during his season. 

[Toonces464]

35 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Oh, she had problems before Maks.  Remember how she ruined Giles during All Stars.   He’d been great during his season. 

Agreed.....BUT.....she was dating Maks during that season.

[LadyNebula]

19 hours ago, Fellaway said:

I remember him saying he couldn't stretch parts of his body normally because of the scarring, so he was physically challenged to a degree, though I couldn't say if it was on par with someone missing a limb or one of their senses.

He was burned over a huge percentage of his body. I don't know much about third degree burns, but I received second degree burns over my entire thigh and abdomen a couple months ago and the skin is still not completely healed. I can only now walk without pain. So I imagine third degree burns with skin grafts would make stretching difficult. Of course, you are totally right about him not being at as much of a disadvantage physically because he was in excellent shape and had no serious mobility issues. The thing about JR is that while he was a "challenge" contestant, he at least had some modicum of fame, since he was an actor on an ABC soap (RIP All My Children).  I knew who he was because that was My Story, dammit (I'm still bitter, sorry).  I honestly don't know who some of the challenge people are any more. It's Dancing with the Stars, not Dancing with the Inspirational. 

That said, I loved JR. He had such a joyous perspective. 

[LizDC]

[ChrisMcGraan]

15 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

Agreed.....BUT.....she was dating Maks during that season.

Eh, I remember Giles being fairly unlikable all on his own during All-Stars. Now it's true he didn't come off that way during his original season, but I think maybe almost winning and then being among other great celeb dancers made him a little fanatical. To be honest, I can't remember that many of Peta and Giles' actual dances...just that I really wasn't a fan of his personality the second time around.

[boyznkatz]

So is Val getting Nancy McKeon? It would be interesting to see what he can do with an older lady. She might have the nostalgia thing going, but I don't remember her having any dance experience.

And Lady Nebula, I LOVED J.R. Martinez on AMC. The man can act! I wonder why he didn't get more offers after DWTS?

[Toonces464]

40 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

So is Val getting Nancy McKeon? It would be interesting to see what he can do with an older lady. She might have the nostalgia thing going, but I don't remember her having any dance experience.

I could not be more excited about her! This might be the first time I actually vote for Val!

2 hours ago, ChrisMcGraan said:

Eh, I remember Giles being fairly unlikable all on his own during All-Stars. Now it's true he didn't come off that way during his original season, but I think maybe almost winning and then being among other great celeb dancers made him a little fanatical. To be honest, I can't remember that many of Peta and Giles' actual dances...just that I really wasn't a fan of his personality the second time around.

Same...but oh how I loved him the first time around with Cheryl!

[penbrat]

5 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

So is Val getting Nancy McKeon? It would be interesting to see what he can do with an older lady. She might have the nostalgia thing going, but I don't remember her having any dance experience.

 

Oh my - the Facts of Life flashbacks - I grew up watching that.  Please don't be a good dancer, Nancy, I don't know if I can stomach voting for Val.

[vdw84]

6 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

So is Val getting Nancy McKeon? It would be interesting to see what he can do with an older lady. She might have the nostalgia thing going, but I don't remember her having any dance experience.

And Lady Nebula, I LOVED J.R. Martinez on AMC. The man can act! I wonder why he didn't get more offers after DWTS?

Dont know if she is a good dancer but she is one hell of actress, when I see her all I can think of is the epic movie on Lifetime where she was getting severely abused by her husband, her acting was insanely good.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

ET Online is breaking news that Mary Lou Retton (Hello, Sasha!) and model/social media influencer (I hate myself a little that I didn't recoil as I typed that), Alexis Ren are in the cast on the female side of things. Alexis feels like an Alan or Brandon possibility...have no idea if she's dating anyone at the moment, but the showmance angle can't be overlooked...I suppose Gleb would be in the mix for her too.

Edited September 5, 2018 by PhD-Purgatory15

[CED9]

I’m assuming Alexis will be either Gleb or Keo’s partner strictly based on height. (Google is telling me she’s 5’9”-5’10”)

[howmanywords]

I knew of Nyle from Americas Next Top Model so I knew of him going into the season. I knew he was very good looking, likeable and..deaf. I remember thinking before he even stepped foot on the dance floor that even if he sucked he would squeeze out a couple of weeks at least of sympathy votes. Hoooboy when he came out week one and was GOOD I knew he was going to be tough to beat. Even when he was just OK he (understandably) got cut some slack.

[pally]

3 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

ET Online is breaking news that Mary Lou Retton (Hello, Sasha!) and model/social media influencer (I hate myself a little that I didn't recoil as I typed that), Alexis Ren are in the cast on the female side of things. Alexis feels like an Alan or Brandon possibility...have no idea if she's dating anyone at the moment, but the showmance angle can't be overlooked...I suppose Gleb would be in the mix for her too.

Mary Lou has had bilateral hip replacements which definitely will hinder her flexibilty and hip motion.  

[Maya S]

25 minutes ago, pally said:

Mary Lou has had bilateral hip replacements which definitely will hinder her flexibilty and hip motion.  

She's also a Karolyi groupie who defended Nassar.

[madpsych78]

4 hours ago, CED9 said:

I’m assuming Alexis will be either Gleb or Keo’s partner strictly based on height. (Google is telling me she’s 5’9”-5’10”)

 

Brandon's taller than Alan and Gleb, so he's a possibility too.

[Emily-D]

I’d never heard of that Alexa, but one google search tells me that she has Alan written all over her as a partner. And if she’s single then don’t be surprised if they push a “showmance”between them as pointed out above.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Emily-D

[ChrisMcGraan]

I'm trying to remember if they've ever had a model on the show other than Val's very first partner (whose name escapes me at the moment). I don't think they normally go for models because they usually have insane schedules if they are semi-well known and can come off as un-relatable to the general audience I think. We'll see though (assuming it's true).

[DkNNy79]

3 minutes ago, ChrisMcGraan said:

I'm trying to remember if they've ever had a model on the show other than Val's very first partner (whose name escapes me at the moment). I don't think they normally go for models because they usually have insane schedules if they are semi-well known and can come off as un-relatable to the general audience I think. We'll see though (assuming it's true).

Yeah, they've had a bunch of models on the show.

Rachel Hunter, Joanna Kruppa (before she was a Real Housewife), Paulina Porzikova, Josie Maran, Petra Nemcova ...etc

[boyznkatz]

12 hours ago, Maya S said:

She's also a Karolyi groupie who defended Nassar.

Oh, yuck. I can't root for her.

[spanana]

I love Nancy, or at least the Nancy I remember, so I'm very conflicted. I don't expect her to be a good dancer.  From what I've seen of her, I think she's the type to be decently athletic, but not a dancer.  I hate having to root for Val.  Though I'm actually in a bit of shock she's doing the show and wondering her reasoning.  I was expecting Lisa Whelchel of that group.  Just because Nancy over the years has been fiercely private.  She doesn't have social media and she's been very underground for the last decade, just raising her kids in Austin.  Nothing wrong with that, but I thought she was done with showbiz and she's never shown any interest in reality shows.  I'm wondering if now that her kids are getting older (I think they might be early teens), she's trying to get back into acting.  Or if she has other reasons.  I mean, money I'm sure is always a reason.

The rest of the cast so far is not of interest to me.  Having a Larry Nassar defender on the show is controversial and a weird situation for Sasha considering he also was paired with Simone, who was one of his victims.  That will be two seasons in a row of controversial people for Sasha.  Though I'm not sure if the general public knows Retton's defense of Nassar the way they know about Tonya Harding.

I don't care about the model, but I don't mind if Alan gets a ringer.  So far Nancy is the only person I have any interest in whatsoever and I suspect she can't dance.

[boyznkatz]

So far, I'm finding it hard to get excited about this season. I didn't really care for Mary Lou Retton even when she was a famous gymnast, and being a Nassar defender sure doesn't help. I liked Nancy McKeon 30 years ago, but I haven't really kept up with her. I have no idea who the model is. Is she a real model, or someone who calls herself one on social media?

It's weird that we haven't heard anything about the men yet.

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, DkNNy79 said:

Yeah, they've had a bunch of models on the show.

Rachel Hunter, Joanna Kruppa (before she was a Real Housewife), Paulina Porzikova, Josie Maran, Petra Nemcova ...etc

Wasn't Marla Maples a model at one time too? And Kathy Ireland was with Tony a few years back.

[CED9]

2 hours ago, DkNNy79 said:

Yeah, they've had a bunch of models on the show.

Rachel Hunter, Joanna Kruppa (before she was a Real Housewife), Paulina Porzikova, Josie Maran, Petra Nemcova ...etc

I think the one Derek partner that won and then preceded Erin as co-host was a model. Brooke something? Sorry, my brain isn’t working today. Lol.

[Maya S]

50 minutes ago, CED9 said:

I think the one Derek partner that won and then preceded Erin as co-host was a model. Brooke something? Sorry, my brain isn’t working today. Lol.

Brooke Burke was a model who won season 7, Derek's first win.  She broke the "model curse" since every model before her had gotten eliminated early.  

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Add one more name to the casting mix, John Schneider of Duke's of Hazzard fame (he's 58 now apparently)...to go along with the ones we've previously been speculating about and for all intents and purposes been confirmed. Nancy McKeon, Bobby Bones, Mary Lou, Alexis Ren, the paralympic skier Danelle Umstead and retired NFL'er DeMarcus Ware...

Not quite halfway through with a week to spare. Yay or nay??

[boyznkatz]

Is this the senior edition? I'm not trying to be facetious. I'm old myself, but I haven't cared about Bo Duke or Nancy McKeon for several decades.

Who is Bobby Bones?

[spanana]

It's also an incredibly white cast with a few exceptions. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

He is the number one (like Nationally syndicated) Country Radio personality of the moment. He also raised his profile earlier this year by being in the mentor role on ABC's first go with American Idol. He may do better than some think, I think his audience could overlap reasonably well with DWTS's.

Yeah, some of the younger contestants must be coming later because so far this is skewing old (even Danelle is in her mid forties)...

[boyznkatz]

4 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

He is the number one (like Nationally syndicated) Country Radio personality of the moment. He also raised his profile earlier this year by being in the mentor role on ABC's first go with American Idol. He may do better than some think, I think his audience could overlap reasonably well with DWTS's.

Yeah, some of the younger contestants must be coming later because so far this is skewing old (even Danelle is in her mid forties)...

Thanks for the info. I think a senior version with folks like Tom Jones would be a lot of fun. The guy still has women screaming on Oprah. Or Barry Manilow. I'd like to see Betty White as well. Sure she's over 90, but how fun would she be?

[DkNNy79]

Nay to all of these folks.

[Annber03]

Yeah, I don't know most of these people and the few I do know I'm neutral on, so nothing that's really wowing me yet. But there's been other seasons where I wasn't familiar with most of the contestants and still wound up enjoying the show, too, so we'll see how it pans out. 

[BeeBop88]

I guess so much for having a no athlete season.  For a controversy, there is Mary Lou the gymnast who sided with the molester doctor. Another football player, what a shock!!! And of course another physically challenged olympic athlete. YAWN.

[Emily-D]

Got no problem with older contestants, they normally come off far more likeable than the young ones. I suspect we’ll still get a female singer, probably someone young with loads of dance experience like a Normani type contestant. And knowing my luck Gleb will get her, which means I’ll have to put up with him for most of the season grrr! 

Yeah models have historically sucked on the show with the exception of Brooke Burke and Joanna Krupa, the common denominator of course being Derek.

 

Bobby Bones will go very far if he can dance well. He’s massive in the country music scene, has a good relationship with ABC and probably has a lot of his fans watching DWTS. I can imagine a lot of big celebs showing him support on shownights.

[Toonces464]

2 minutes ago, Emily-D said:

I suspect we’ll still get a female singer, probably someone young with loads of dance experience like a Normani type contestant.

I just saw an insinuation on Twitter that Tinashe is on and likely paired with Gleb...so good suspicion!

[Emily-D]

10 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

I just saw an insinuation on Twitter that Tinashe is on and likely paired with Gleb...so good suspicion!

Oh great so that’s us probably stuck with Gleb until the final then. I can already see myself losing interest in this season fairly early. Normally one or two people come from nowhere to catch my interest and support on premiere night (Rashad) so I’m hoping for something similar here.

[LexieLily]

34 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

I just saw an insinuation on Twitter that Tinashe is on and likely paired with Gleb...so good suspicion!

Who?

[Emily-D]

8 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Who?

Mixed race female pop star (think a younger version of Mya). My niece loves her which is how I come to know her. She has a truck load of dance experience, will comfortably be the biggest ringer of the cast unless they announce anyone else.