Breaking from tradition in more ways than one, ABC announced its All-Star cast for the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars two months ahead of the premiere during its Friday presentation at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
Rolling out the majority of the former competitors during the network's panel for the veteran series, some of the biggest names included previous finalists Kirstie Alley, Gilles Marini and Bristol Palin -- the latter of whom brought in unprecedented media coverage (and ratings) during her late 2010 turn on the series.
PHOTOS: The Cast of 'Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars'
The full roster also includes previous winners -- Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith, Apolo Anton Ohno, Hélio Castroneves and Shawn Johnson -- and a slew of runners-up. The only competitor not to actually make it to a finale is season ten competitor Pamela Anderson.
Executive producer Conrad Green, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter earlier in the year about the all-star run and new twists, was on-hand at the presentation to talk about another tweak in the competition. Three previous contestants not chosen for the season are still eligible for participation, pending viewer votes. Kyle Massey, Sabrina Bryan and Carson Kressley are all up for inclusion -- with the latter, the lowest scorer of the bunch, the only surprise.
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Despite the long lead time before the season premiere, the group of competitors have not been assigned their professional partners. That announcement will come later in August, and considering several of the group had the same partners during their original appearances, that should. (Mark Ballas, for one, will have three former partners on the roster if Bryan is voted in.)
See the full cast list for Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars, which premieres Sept. 24, below:
The All-Stars
Kelly Monaco (season one winner)
Drew Lachey (season two winner)
Emmitt Smith (season three winner)
Apolo Anton Ohno (season four winner)
Hélio Castroneves (season five winner)
Shawn Johnson (season eight winner)
Bristol Palin (season eleven second runner-up)
Kirstie Alley (season twelve runner-up)
Gilles Marini (season eight runner-up)
Melissa Rycroft (season eight second runner-up)
Joey Fatone (season four runner-up)
Pamela Anderson (season ten, eliminated week seven)
The Wildcards
Carson Kressley (season thirteen, eliminated week five)
Kyle Massey (season eleven, runner-up)
Sabrina Bryan (season five, eliminated week six)
Email: Michael.OConnell@THR.com; Twitter: @MikeyLikesTV
