With no studio audience, new host Tyra Banks, new judge Derrick Hough, several weekly COVID tests, and a group of eclectic, diverse and interesting new celebrity contestants, the 29th season of Dancing With The Stars looks set to be anything but boring.  

5 Things You Need to Know:

1. Here are the new celebrity dancers: Animal activist Carole Baskin (Tiger King), Kaitlyn Bristowe (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette),  Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis, TV and film actress Anne Heche, Disney Channel actress Skai Jackson, actress Justina Machado (One Day at a Time), Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean, Emmy® Award-winning host of The Real and sideline correspondent on Holey Moley, Jeannie Mai, TV and film actor Jesse Metcalfe, GRAMMY®-winning rapper Nelly, TV host Nev Schulman (Catfish), NBA superstar Charles Oakley (The Last Dance), actress Chrishell Stause (Selling Sunset), Olympic figure skater and on-air commentator, Johnny Weir. 
2. Dancing With The Stars is consistently a ratings winner, but has dropped a little over the past few years, averaging between 7 and 10 million viewers per episodes.
3. Singers Nelly and AJ McLean said they expect to be dancing to one of their own songs during the competition.
4. During our virtual interviews with the contestants, most said they were not good dancers and would have laughed seeing themselves much younger on the dance floor.  
5. During its 29-year history, the show has generated DVDs, tours, board games, show spin-offs and other merchandise.