Lifetime announced that it will premiere Your Mama Don't Dance, a new Dancing with the Stars-like reality competition series that partners professional two-steppers with one of their novice parents, on Friday, February 29 at 9PM ET/PT and revealed the identities of the 10 duos that will compete on the show.
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Professional dancers who auditioned for Your Mama Don't Dance did so thinking they were trying out for a competition series called Dance Nation, with none of them aware what the show's format would actually entail until it was revealed to them on Saturday at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theater.
Following the surprise twist -- which will have five female professionals competing with their fathers and five male professionals competing with the mothers -- each duo has less than a month to learn and rehearse new routines with the assistance of choreographers.
During each week of the competition, the two teams who received the lowest score from Your Mama Don't Dance's yet-to-be-announced judges will be placed on the chopping block. Home viewers will be able to vote via the phone, Internet or text messaging immediately following each episode, with the team on the chopping block who receives the least amount of viewer votes being sent packing.
Your Mama Don't Dance's live finale will air on April 18, with the three remaining teams competing in-front of the judges and home viewers one last time. The winning team will be announced following a live vote, and will receive $100,000 in cash and prizes.
"This show is truly a testament to how far parents will go for their children," said executive producer Bob Bain. "These parents are picking up their lives for ten weeks, leaving their friends and families at home to come to dance on national television with their kids. Most don't have any formal dance training whatsoever, so it is going to be really interesting to see how well they perform."
Your Mama Don't Dance will be hosted by Dancing with the Stars fourth-season celebrity participant Ian Ziering, who had previously expressed interest in returning to television after finishing fourth on the Spring 2007 installment of the show.
Ziering is the fourth Dancing with the Stars 4 celebrity participant to land a reality television gig after appearing on the show.
The former Beverly Hills 90210 actor is following in the footsteps of runner-up Joey Fatone with NBC's The Singing Bee karaoke-style game show; third-place finisher Laila Ali with NBC's American Gladiators' revival; and eleventh-place finisher Paulina Porizkova, who is replacing Twiggy as an America's Next Top Model tenth-season judge. (Former The Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore -- who dropped out of the competition for physical reasons -- is also currently a candidate on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice.)
Your Mama Don't Dance is produced by City Lights Television in association with Bob Bain Productions for Lifetime Television. Bain, Dave Noll and Linda Lea will serve as executive producers.
The 10 teams competing on Your Mama Don't Dance -- as well as their Lifetime-supplied bios -- are:
- Jeremy Barthel, a 22-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, and his mom Doris Barthel, a 50-year-old from San Diego, CA
- Noelle Croner, a 19-year-old from New York City, and her dad Doug Croner, a 52-year-old from Gilbertsville, PA
- Jesse Lewis, a 21-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, and his mom Rebecca Lewis, a 51-year-old from Birmingham, AL
- Celia Merendi, a 23-year-old from New York City, and her dad Silvano Merendi, a 48-year-old from Miami, FL
- Nicole Niestemski, a 24-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, and her dad Michael Niestemski, a 48-year-old from Cerritos, CA
- Heather Phillips, a 22-year-old from New York City, and her dad Stephen Phillips, a 54-year-old from Philadelphia, PA
- Dante Pueleio, a 31-year-old from New York City, and his mom Dolores Pueleio, a 51-year-old from East Brunswick, NJ
- Brooke Shephard, a 19-year-old from New York City, and her dad Eric Shephard, a 43-year-old from Columbus, OH
- Jonathan Silva, a 19-year-old from Los Angeles, CA and Rodilyn Woodbridge, a 39-year-old from Long Beach, CA
- Erick "E-Rock" Uphoff, a 20-year-old from Los Angeles, CA and Carol Uphoff, a 43-year-old from Chapel Hill, NC
(Photo credit Carol Kaelson/Lifetime) About The Author: Christopher Rocchio
