Dancing with the Stars is waltzing its way back to ABC, as the network has announced its 28th season will air on Monday nights this fall.
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Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews will return as Dancing with the Stars' hosts, and as will judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli.
Dancing with the Stars' return will come after a brief hiatus in which it did not air a Spring 2019 edition. Prior to this year, the reality dancing competition had aired spring and fall editions -- two seasons per year -- since 2007.
ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke reportedly spoke about the return of Dancing with the Stars while announcing the network's 2019-2020 schedule to the media and advertisers on Tuesday.
"Resting the show does help us focus on talent and we will go after people that we think will be the strongest. That has been a gift and the producers are chomping at the bit to bring it back next fall," Burke said, according to Deadline.
A likely contributing factor to the network's decision to delay Season 28 was the fact that last fall's 27th season of Dancing with the Stars averaged about 20 percent fewer viewers than the previous year's average.
However, the Spring 2019 hiatus also didn't come as much of a surprise given ABC also faced with the same schedule crunch they had in Spring 2018, when the network chose to only air an abbreviated four-week "athletes edition" of Dancing with the Stars to make room for its revival of American Idol.
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For Dancing with the Stars' next season, ABC is reportedly looking to "freshen up the format" and "going after bigger stars" than the show has seen "in a long time," according to Burke.
"We have been pitched some really fun format changes for Dancing with the Stars by the executive producers but right now they are top secret. [ABC Reality chief] Rob Mills and I had a meeting with them a couple of months ago and got very excited about some of the new ideas that they were talking," Burke explained.
"It's still the show that audience knows and loves but they've got some good ideas in terms of how to surprise people in new ways."
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According to Deadline, Dancing with the Stars is eyeing actress Jennifer Love Hewitt for Season 28 as well as gymnast and viral sensation Katelyn Ohasi. Both ladies reportedly said they've been in talks to join the new cast.
ABC confirmed in February that Dancing with the Stars would be airing a new season in Fall 2019.
Last season, which aired in Fall 2018, country radio personality Bobby Bones and his professional partner Sharna Burgess won the mirrorball trophy, but his victory was a bit controversial considering fans argued there were better dancers in the finale.
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Bobby defeated Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch, Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace, and former Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider for the win.
It's unclear whether Dancing with the Stars will be back for Spring 2020, but Burke admitted to having "conversations" about the show returning for two seasons every year again, Gold Derby reported.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
