'Dancing With The Stars' Season 21 Cast News: Season 13 Winner Karina Smirnoff Returns
The longtime favorite pro partner to the stars, Karina Smirnoff, is returning to ABC's hit reality TV dance competition series "Dancing With the Stars" for its 21st Season.
The casting report, first published on Entertainment Weekly, said Sminoff would be heading back the show's dance floor after a brief hiatus. She and partner J.R. Martinez were the winners of Season 13's Mirror Ball Trophy.
"I was a little nervous about not dancing on the show at all last season. I was doing it for the last 10 years," Smirnoff told EW during an interview. "I had other things to do in my life, but not going back to the show felt like trying to see if I can walk on my own two feet! I've had obvious moments when I missed it."
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Smirnoff had exited the ballroom last season to promote her latest book titled "We're Just Not That Into You: Dating Disasters from the Trenches." She is also slated to appear in an indie film called "Tango Shalom" with Lainie Kazan.
The media outlet went on to dish more details saying that although casting for Season 21 is still underway, several Season 20 pro dancers like Val Chmerkovskiy (whose celebrity partner was Rumer Willis) and Witney Carson (who recently performed with Chris Soules) will be likely to return in the current installment of the ABC program.
Further confirmation of who's coming back for the latest season is expected to be announced later this week, the site wrote.
The names of the participating stars are also slated to be revealed on "Good Morning America" during the first week of September.
"I'm excited and a little nervous," Smirnoff referred to her potential partner (via EW). "Normally I can at least narrow it down a little bit, like whether it will be an athlete or an actor, but I have no idea."
"Dancing With the Stars" premieres September 14 on ABC.
