In its 15 years on air, Dancing with the Stars has had quite the celebrity lineup. The ABC dancing competition has seen Spice Girls, Olympians, and even politicians leave it all on the dance floor week after week in order to win the coveted crystal ball trophy. But the upcoming 29th season might take the cake for bringing together the most ragtag group of pop culture figures together in the show's long history. The 2020 roster is appropriately as random as the year itself, with the standout star being the fearsome Tiger Queen herself.
Following tradition, this season's celebrity cast was announced on Good Morning America, featuring some of the stars who have kept us in good spirits for the past few months in coronavirus quarantine for different reasons. Big cat activist and Tiger King villain (or hero, depending on who you ask) Carole Baskin is among them, and she's hoping to use her new platform to elevate social awareness about the mistreatment of big cats — something that she thinks Tiger King didn't do enough of.
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JUST IN: #TigerKing’s @Carole_Baskin joins the cast of @DancingABC season 29! #DancingOnGMA#DWTS pic.twitter.com/HdifTN4YbY
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 2, 2020
"The biggest thing for me is the longer my partner and I can stay in the running and in the competition it will keep the cats forefront in the viewers' eye — to me, that was where Tiger King missed the ball," Baskin shadily explained to GMA of her decision to join the show. "It really should have been focused on the animals, and I’m hoping Dancing with the Stars will do that. I am competitive, but I am competitive with myself. I want to do the very best that I can possibly do."
She'll also be joined by Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause, Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe (finally!), Cheer head coach Monica Aldama, The Real host Jeannie Mai, Catfish host Nev Schulman, Grammy-winning rapper Nelly, Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean, former NFL player Vernon Davis, Jesse Metcalfe, Anne Heche, Disney starlet Skai Jackson, One Day at a Time actress Justina Machado, NBA superstar Charles Oakley, and Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir.
The upcoming season, set to air on September 14 and hosted by Tyra Banks, will see the eclectic group of celebrities take on various ballroom dance styles over the course of the next few weeks. Looking at the celebrity roster, it's hard to pick out a frontrunner for the crystal ball trophy — but something tells me that Baskin has the ferocity (get it?) to stand out amongst the competition.