'Dancing With The Stars' Season 29: Meet Carole Baskin, Chrishell Stause and rest of the competitive show's cast
Competitive dancing 'Dancing with the Stars' is coming back to TV after a full year. The series releases bi-yearly seasons, one in spring and the other in fall. The coronavirus pandemic played a dampener on the spring edition this year and fans rejoiced when it was announced that production of fall season 2020 of 'DWTS' was underway.
Two weeks ago, the confirmed release date and a complete line-up of the star pro-dancers were announced on 'Good Morning America' and now the full list of celebrity participants has been declared on the same show. Here's a look at every celebrity that's about to slip into their dance shoes and waltz on the 'DWTS' floor.
Monica Aldama
One of the most successful athletic coaches in the country, Monica Aldama became an overnight sensation after starring in the hit Netflix docu-series 'Cheer,' which chronicles her tremendous leadership in building one of the country's most successful cheerleading programs from the ground up. She has been with Navarro College for 25 years and has led the cheer squad to win 14 national championships, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Navarro College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019. Aldama also shares messages of inclusivity and acceptance, drawing on her experiences working with racially diverse, LGBTQ+ and low-income students in an insular, small town.
Carole Baskin
Carole Baskin is the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, the world’s most influential, an accredited rescue facility for exotic cats. She and her family volunteer for the Tampa-based nonprofit as unpaid staff and have 100+ volunteers and a dozen interns from around the world. She recently gained public attention in 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,' Netflix’s documentary series about Oklahoma-based private zoo operator Joe Exotic.
Kaitlyn Bristowe
Kaitlyn Bristowe rose to fame as she fronted Season 11 of 'The Bachelorette' and she remains one of the most-liked leads from the franchise. She was the first and the only celebrity participant of this season that was confirmed to be appearing on the show. The news was a surprise that was revealed to her by host Chris Harrison during the recap of her season of 'Bachelorette' on 'The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever!'.
NEV SCHULMAN
Nev Schulman is an American producer, photographer, and TV host. He is best known for the 2010 documentary film 'Catfish' and the follow-up TV series 'Catfish: The TV Show', of which he is the host and executive producer on MTV. Season 9 of the show is currently on the air and is completely virtual and self-shot, keeping in terms of the global pandemic. Schulman spends time supporting local organizations and charities in New York City and nationwide. He served on the youth board for the Canadian-based organization Leave Out Violence and hosted the annual Dance Against Cancer.
Chrishell Stause
Chrishell is a celebrity real estate agent and features on the highly popular Netflix series 'Selling Sunset'. Drawing inspiration from her childhood when she experienced being homeless, Chrishell spends time raising money and volunteering at Upward Bound House that is committed to eliminating homelessness among families with children by providing housing, supportive services and advocacy. One of the charity events that she held for the foundation was also documented in an episode of 'Selling Sunset' Season 2.
Vernon Davis
Vernon Davis is a former American football tight end. The 15-year NFL veteran was selected by the San Francisco 49ers sixth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft and played his first 10 seasons with the 49ers. He joined his hometown team, the Washington Redskins, in 2016 and spent four seasons there before retiring after the 2019-2020 season. In 2012, Davis created the Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts as a way to promote art education and art appreciation among youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2019, VDFA evolved into the Vernon Davis Foundation, which services at-risk youth of all interests and demographics.
Anne Heche
Anne Heche is an Emmy® Award-winning actor. Her recent movies include mystery/thriller 'The Vanished.' Recently she also starred in 'Best of Enemies,' opposite Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, and 'My Friend Dahmer.' Heche has three Emmy nominations and one win. She was nominated for a Tony® for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her performance as Lily Garland in 'Twentieth Century.'
Skai Jackson
Skai Jackson became a household name after her starring role as Zuri Ross in the Disney Channel hit series 'Jessie' for which she was nominated for an NAACP award in 2016 as well as the spinoff series 'BUNK’D.' She's an advocate for anti-bullying and in the past has encouraged fans on social media to stand up against bullies. She's also penned a memoir surrounding the topic of bullying titled 'Reach for The Skai: How to Inspire, Empower and Clapback', which was released last year.
Justina Machado
Justina Machado is an acclaimed stage, television, and film actress who currently stars in the hit comedy 'One Day at a Time.' She also appeared alongside Gina Rodriguez in the fourth season of CW’s Emmy Award-nominated comedy series, 'Jane the Virgin'.
Jeannie Mai
Emmy® Award-winning host Jeannie Mai can be seen each weekday on the nationally syndicated talk show 'The Real' (Mai and her co-hosts received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show in 2018) and on ABC’s hit summer series 'Holey Moley.' She is deeply committed to charities that advance women’s interests and apart from that she also travels to Asia extensively to volunteer with organizations working with the less fortunate to honor her immigrant heritage. For the last several years, she has served as an advocate to fight human trafficking and has been an ambassador for the Pacific Links Foundation, Step Up, Nightlight International, Not For Sale and Heartbeat Vietnam. In 2017, Mai executive produced 'Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex Trafficking,' a documentary that investigates the international crisis of human sex trafficking from a personal point of view.
AJ McLean
Multiple award-winning and Grammy-nominated performer, AJ McLean is a part of Backstreet Boys. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame along with the rest of the BSBs that belted out music that went gold and platinum in over 46 countries.
Jesse Metcalfe
Jesse Metcalfe rose to fame as he portrayed the role of John Rowland, Eva Longoria's forbidden teen lover on 'Desperate Housewives' for which he won a Teen Choice Award as well as shared a SAG Award for Best Television Comedy Ensemble. He recently appeared in the action-thriller 'Hard Kill' opposite Bruce Willis and continues to portray the role of country star Trace Riley on the Hallmark family drama series 'Chesapeake Shores'. Metcalfe also works actively with several charities including North Texas Food Bank, The Go Campaign, Weingart Foundation, and UNICEF.
NELLY
Multiple Grammy Award-winning rap superstar Nelly is still remembered for the single 'Dilemma' with Kelly Rowland. He continues to put out great music and was on the top of the country music charts with the song 'Cool Again' in collaboration with Kane Brown. A successful entrepreneur, Nelly is the CEO of his own label Derrty Ent. and co-owns the Charlotte Bobcats with Michael Jordan. He supports Make a Wish foundation and he owns EI University, which provides education surrounding the music industry and personally provides scholarships for students.
Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley is a basketball legend having played 19 years in the NBA, 10 of which were with the New York Knicks. He is now a player and coach for the Killer 3s in the NBA Big3 Basketball League. Alongside his playing and coaching, Oakley’s dedication to giving back to the community and passion for cooking led him to start the Charles Oakley Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is focused on helping impoverished and underprivileged communities through direct impact projects with the mission to #OakOutHunger. He has long been an advocate for the cause of hunger relief and has cooked and served thousands of meals as a part of the Foundation’s 2020 Feed America Campaign.
Johnny Weir
Johnny Weir is a figure skating superstar. He is a two time U.S. Olympian, three-time U.S. National Figure Skating Champion, 2008 World bronze medalist, two time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2001 World Junior Figure Skating Champion, as well as NBC’s lead figure skating commentator, ambassador to the Olympic Games and cultural icon. Most recently, Weir starred as Gabe in the Netflix drama 'Spinning Out' and hosted Food Network’s 'Wedding Cake Championship.' He continues his role as Winter Village Skating Ambassador for Bryant Park in New York City, commentating for NBC’s coverage of the 2019-2020 figure skating season, and dazzling audiences with his skating while on tour around the world.
'Dancing With The Stars' Season 29 will start airing on Monday, September 14 on ABC.