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Now that the entire cast and their pro partners for season 27 of Dancing With the Stars has been announced, fans and the competitors are sizing up the competition, and it seems a couple of this season’s stars might be better suited for the show than others.
Over its many seasons, the series has come under fire a few times for casting celebrities with obvious dance experience, and this season the two stars that are raising eyebrows are Disney Channel star Milo Manheim and singer Tinashe.
Manheim is the youngest competitor on the season at only 17 years old and while he said the training has been incredibly difficult, many are wondering how hard it can be for someone who starred in the Disney Channel music comedy Zombies in which he was required to do a lot of dancing. Manheim insists that he doesn’t have an unfair advantage though.
“That’s what everyone’s saying, but I’m going to disagree right there,” he told E! News alongside his pro dancer partner Witney Carson. “I feel like…in the movie I danced a little bit, but it was more like hip hop and popping and locking, and not very much form and being precise and pointing your toes. So, I’m actually struggling a lot with trying to think about everything at once, keeping my toes in order, my hips in order, my torso, my back. It’s tough, it’s tough to think about all those things.”
Meanwhile, Tinashe trained as a dancer in many styles from the age of four all the way until she was 18, and then she even got hand picked to perform in honor of Janet Jackson, so clearly she has impressive dance moves.
“I love the challenge of doing something that I’ve never done before,” Tinashe said, but added her past experience might even be a disadvantage.
“I think having a little bit of dance training has its advantages with just learning basic steps,” Tinashe said. “But in this particular case, ballroom, it’s so specific and so different than what I’m used to it’s almost is a hinder.”
“Like a disadvantage,” her pro partner Brandon Armstrong said. “You have to relearn all old habits.”
“I’m used to dancing really down in my body, really more hip-hop oriented. This is really more forward and on your toes,” she said. “It’s just different.”
Dancing With the Stars premieres Monday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Ahead of the premiere get caught up with all of season 27’s competitors!
Dancing With The Stars 2018: Full Cast For Season 27 (With Pics)
13. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold
DeMarcus Ware is a Super Bowl-winning linebacker and is revered as one of the best to play the position, and the former Denver Broncos star is hoping his fancy footwork on the football field will help him on the dance floor. Ware has been partnered with Lindsay Arnold who is no stranger to working with celebrity athletes on the show. Out of her seven seasons, she has been partnered with a boxer, a football player, a baseball player, and a basketball player, but her only win came back in season 25 with actor Jordan Fisher.
ABC/Craig Sjodin