ABC to Premiere New Season of Dancing with the Stars, Featuring Xochitl Gomez, As Scheduled

Xochitl Gomez is headed to the ballroom as originally scheduled…

ABC will proceed as planned with the September 26 season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, featuring the 17-year-old Mexican American actress, in light of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the studios reaching a tentative agreement on Sunday night.

Xochitl GomezThe reality competition will kick off its 32nd season with its full celebrity cast, including Gomez.

The network last Thursday put in place plans to postpone DWTSreturn after actors in its celebrity cast, particularly Walsh, Alyson Hannigan and Mira Sorvino, came under pressure from striking WGA members.

Last week, WGA picketers targeted multiple rehearsals for DWTS, which is a WGA signatory that typically employs one writer to pen talking points for the host.

Picketing on the show continued through yesterday. Just hours before the WGA-AMPTP deal was announced, a group of around 35 writers went out to picket Dancing with the Stars at TV City where producers were doing prep ahead of the Tuesday live season opener.

Following the tentative deal with the studios, all WGA picketing was suspended Sunday night.

Variety shows like DWTS are covered under the SAG-AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, better known as Network Code. It is separate to the film and TV collective bargaining agreement that SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP negotiated unsuccessfully in the spring and early summer, leading to the current actors strike.

Because of that, ABC is allowed to put on DWTS, and SAG-AFTRA members are allowed to participate. In fact, SAG-AFTRA last week backed actors who are appearing on the show, noting that they are not in violation of strike rules and are required to go to work. It is the show’s WGA affiliation via the employment of one writer out of 500 crew members that made it a struck production.

Season 32 marks the return of DWTS to ABC. The show aired last season on Disney+. The new season will simulcast live on Disney+ and be available next day on Hulu.

Xochitl Gomez to Compete on Season 32 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”

Xochitl Gomez is heading to the ballroom…

The 17-year-old Mexican American actress and Marvel star will compete on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars.

Xochitl GomezBut Gomez won’t be the only Latinx competitor.

Venezuelan YouTuber, actress and singer Lele Pons, 27, and Mexican real estate mogul and television star Mauricio Umansky, 53, will also compete this season.

Other competitors include Mira SorvinoAriana MadixCharity LawsonJamie Lynn Spears, Alyson Hannigan and NFL star Adrian Peterson.

“There’s something for everyone in this cast,” says executive producer Conrad Green. “What’s interesting with a lot of our contestants this year is this real drive and excitement about doing it. There’s a real passion for it. It’s been a tough number of years, one way or another with the strikes going on and all these things. So what I’m hoping we can bring to people is bringing Dancing back and giving audiences a blast of sunshine early in the week.”

After Tyra Banks‘ exit, Alfonso Ribeiro will return as a host, stepping onto the main stage, while former Dancing pro Julianne Hough joins to take over Ribeiro’s former cohost slot in the Sky Box.

The show is also back in its original home, airing live on ABC, after being solely available on Disney+ last season (where it will now stream concurrently).

Here’s the full cast for season 32 of Dancing with the Stars:

  • Supermodel Tyson Beckford with partner Jenna Johnson
  • Marvel star Xochitl Gomez with partner Val Chmerkovskiy
  • How I Met Your Motherstar Alyson Hannigan with partner Sasha Farber
  • Social media and reality TV star Harry Jowsey with partner Rylee Arnold
  • Bachelorette Charity Lawson with partner Artem Chigvintsev
  • Vanderpump Rules‘ Ariana Madix with partner Pasha Pashkov
  • Grammy-winning singer Jason Mraz with partner Daniella Karagach
  • NFL All-Star Adrian Peterson with partner Britt Stewart
  • Singer and social media star Lele Pons with partner Brandon Armstrong
  • Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino with partner Gleb Savchenko
  • Actress Jamie Lynn Spears with partner Alan Bersten
  • Real estate mogul and TV star Mauricio Umansky with partner Emma Slater
  • Comedian and actor Matt Walsh with partner Koko Iwasaki
  • The Brady Bunch star Barry Williams with partner Peta Murgatroyd

Dancing With the Stars premieres on Tuesday, September 26, at 8:00 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Michele & Darren Criss Perform “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” at Taste For A Cure Benefit

Lea Michele is doing her part offer a musical taste for the cure

The 27-year-old part-Spanish actress/singer and her Glee co-star Darren Criss joined voices at the 19th annual “Taste For A Cure” benefit gala to help raise more than $700,000 for UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center at the Beverly Wilshire Friday night.

Lea Michele & Darren Criss

As an all-star crowd of Hollywood elite dined on a sumptuous menu paired with 14 distinguished vintages from six of France’s premier wine-making regions, Criss asked who in the audience would donate to hear Michele join him on stage for a duet.

Co-chair Dana Walden bid $5,000 and the pair performed a touching version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz.

Michele voices Dorothy in the new animated Oz-inspired movie, Legends Of Oz: Dorothy’s Return.

She posted a snippet of the performance on Instagram and wrote, “And then this happened!”

In all, more than 450 guests attended the event, which also included the participation of How I Met Your Mother’s Alyson Hannigan, Community’sJoel McHale and actor/comedian Tom Papa.