Dancing with the Stars' eleventh-season professional partner pairings have been announced by ABC.

ADVERTISEMENT
For the first in Dancing with the Stars history, the upcoming season's professional partners will all be returning dancers -- Corky Ballas, Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, Chelsie Hightower, Derek Hough, Kym Johnson, Lacey Schwimmer, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, and Louis van Amstel.

Noticeably absent from this season's cast is Edyta Sliwinska, the only professional dancer who had participated in all of the ABC ballroom dancing competition's first ten seasons. Sliwinska announced she has decided to quit Dancing with the Stars to "move on with my life, pursue other projects and finish school" earlier this week.

Also missing is Julianne Hough, the dancer-turned-country singer who had previously been reported to be returning for Dancing with the Stars' eleventh season following a two-season absence.  A Dancing with the Stars representative had subsequently called the report premature.

The 12 celebrity participants -- which ABC announced Monday -- competing on Dancing with the Stars' eleventh season are singer Michael Bolton, actress Margaret Cho, former NBA basketball player Rick Fox, actress Jennifer Grey, actor and former America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff, actress Florence Henderson, rapper and Disney Channel star Kyle Massey, singer and former America's Got Talent judge Brandy Norwood, former The Hills star Audrina Patridge, Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, recently retired NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, and Bristol Palin, the teen mom daughter of former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Mark Ballas will be partnered with Bristol Palin.  He previously won Dancing with the Stars' sixth season with Kristi Yamaguchi, its eighth season with Shawn Johnson, and is returning for his seventh season.

His father Corky Ballas, who was paired with Cloris Leachman on Dancing with the Stars' seventh season, will return for his second season and dance with Henderson.

Burke will compete with Fox.  She previously won Dancing with the Stars' second season with Drew Lachey, its third season with Emmitt Smith, and is returning for her tenth season.

Chmerkovskiy, who is participating in his ninth season, will be partnered with Norwood.

Dovolani, who is back for his tenth season, will dance with Patridge.

Hightower, a former So You Think You Can Dance contestant who will be participating in her fourth Dancing with the Stars season, will be paired with Bolton.

Hough will be partnered with Grey.  He previously won Dancing with the Stars' seventh season with Brooke Burke, its tenth season with Nicole Scherzinger, and is returning for his seventh season.

Johnson, who won Dancing with the Stars' ninth season with Donny Osmond and will be participating in her eighth season, will compete with Hasselhoff.
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

Schwimmer, another former So You Think You Can Dance contestant, will be participating in her third Dancing with the Stars season and compete with Massey.

Smirnoff, who is back for her eighth season, will be partnered with Sorrentino.

Trebunskaya, who is participating in her sixth season, will dance with Warner.

Van Amstel, who is returning for his seventh season, will be paired with Cho.

Dancing with the Stars' eleventh season will premiere Monday, September 20 at 8PM ET/PT with a two-hour broadcast.

All 12 couples will perform a Viennese waltz or cha cha routine during the premiere, and the couple with the lowest combination of the judges' scores and home viewer votes will be eliminated on the following night's results show.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
Steven Rogers is a senior entertainment reporter for Reality TV World and been covering the reality TV genre for two decades.