Trav's Thoughts

It's the pairings!

Monday we learned who our celebrities would be.  Yesterday we found out which pros match to which celebrity.

Here are the partnerships for Season 13!

Anna Trebunskaya will be paired with host, stylist, author, fashion designer Carson Kressley.  She is an International Grand Ball Champion, a UK National Champion, a USA Rising Star Latin Champion, a Blackpool Rising Star Latin Finalist, and a USA Amateur Youth Standard Champion.  Some of my favorite professional performances have featured Anna with husband Jonathan Roberts.  This is Anna's 8th season.  She has previously been paired with Jerry Rice with whom she finished second in Season 2, Albert Reed (Season 5), Steve Guttenberg (Season 6), Chuck Liddell (Season 9), Evan Lysacek with whom she finished second in Season 10, Kurt Warner (Season 11), and Sugar Ray Leonard (Season 12).


Cheryl Burke will be paired with entrepreneur Rob Kardashian.  She is a 2-time, back-to-back DWTS champion, a World Cup Professional Rising Star Latin Champion, a San Francisco Open Latin Champion, and an Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Champion.  This is Cheryl's 12th season.  She has previously been paired with Drew Lachey with whom she won Season 2, Emmitt Smith with whom she won Season 3, Ian Ziering (Season 4), Wayne Newton (Season 5), Cristian de la Fuente (Season 6), Maurice Green (Season 7), Gilles Marini with whom she finished second in Season 8, Tom DeLay (Season 9), Chad Ochocinco (Season 10), Rick Fox (Season 11) and Chris Jericho (Season 12).


Derek Hough will be paired with host, actor, author, producer Ricki Lake.  He is a 3-time DWTS champion, a World under 21 Latin American Champion, a 2-time Open British Blackpool Champion, a 2-time International Open to the World Champion, and a 2-time US Open Champion.  This is Derek's 8th season.  He has previously been paired with Jennie Garth (Season 5), Shannon Elizabeth (Season 6), Brooke Burke with whom he won Season 7, Lil Kim (Season 8), Joanna Krupa (Season 9), Nicole Scherzinger with whom he won Season 10, and Jennifer Gray with whom he won Season 11.


Karina Smirnoff will be paired with Iraq war veteran and actor JR Martinez.  She is a 5-time US National Champion, a World Trophy Champion, and an Asian Open Champion.  This is Karina's 10th season.  She has previously been paired with Mario Lopez with whom she finished second in Season 3, Billy Ray Cyrus (Season 4), Floyd Mayweather (Season 5), Mario (Season 6), Rocco DiSpirito (Season 7), Steve Wozniak (Season 8), Aaron Carter (Season 9), Mike Sorrention (Season 11) and Ralph Macchio (Season 12).

Kym Johnson will be paired with actor, writer, director, producer David Arquette.  She is a 2-time DWTS champion and a 3-time winner of DWTS Australia, an Australian Amateur Ballroom and Latin Champion, a Blackpool UK Ballroom Championship finalist, and a member of the Burn the Floor world touring company.  This is Kym's 10th season.  She has previously been paired with Jerry Springer (Season 3), Joey Fatone with whom she finished second in Season 4, Mark Cuban (Season 5), Penn Jillette (Season 6), Warren Sapp with whom she finished second in Season 7, David Alan Grier (Season 8), Donny Osmond with whom she won Season 9, David Hasselhoff (Season 11), and Hines Ward with whom she won Season 12.

Lacey Schwimmer will be paired with advocate, author, motivational speaker Chaz Bono.  She is a World Swing Dance Champion, a 7-time US Open Swing Dance Champion, a US National Youth Latin Champion, an Emerald Ball Youth Latin Champion, and a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance.  This is Lacey's 6th season.  She has previously been paired with Lance Bass (Season 7), Steve-O (Season 8), Mark Dacascos (Season 9), Kyle Massey with whom she finished second in Season 11, and Mike Catherwood (Season 12).

Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be paired with soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo.  He is a Yankee Classic Professional Latin Champion, a Manhattan Dancesport Professional Latin Champion, an Ohio Star Ball Latin Champion, as well as an internationally renowned teacher and board member of DanceTeam USA.  This is Maks' 11th season.  He has previously been paired with Tia Carrere (Season 2), Willa Ford (Season 3), Laila Ali (Season 4), Mel B with whom he finished second in Season 5, Misty May-Treanor (Season 7), Denise Richards (Season 8), Debi Mazar (Season 9), Erin Andrews (Season 10), Brandy Norwood (Season 11) and Kirstie Alley with whom he finished second in Season 12.

Mark Ballas will be paired with actor, fashion designer, humanitarian Kristin Cavallari.  He is a 2-time DWTS champion, a British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin Champion, a US and British and InternationalOpen to the World Junior Latin American Champion, and a Junior Olympics gold medalist.  This is Mark's 9th season.  He has previously been paired with Sabrina Bryan (Season 5), Kristi Yamaguchi with whom he won Season 6, Kim Kardashian (Season 7), Shawn Johnson with whom he won Season 8, Melissa Joan Hart (Season 9), Shannen Doherty (Season 10), Bristol Palin (Season 11), and Chelsea Kane (Season 12.

Peta Murgatroyd will be paired with NBA world champion Ron Artest.  She is an Australian State Champion, a Great World City finalist, a Lion City semi-finalist, an Australian Open finalist, and a Blackpool Latin finalist.  She was a female lead on Broadway in the show Burn the Floor.  This is Peta's first season as a pro on DWTS after last season when she was a member of the DWTS Dance Troupe.

Tony Dovolani will be paired with singer/songwriter, actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist Chynna Phillips.  He is a World Rhythm Champion, a PBS American Ballroom Challenge Rhythm Champion, an Emerald Ball Open Professional American Rhythm Champion, and an Ohio Star Ball American Rhythm Champion.  This is Tony's 12th season.  He has previously been paired with Stacy Keibler (Season 2), Sara Evans (Season 3), Leeza Gibbons (Season 4), Jane Seymour (Season 5), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Season 6), Susan Lucci (Season 7), Melissa Rycroft (Season 8), Kathy Ireland (Season 9), Kate Gosselin (Season 10), Audrina Partridge (Season 11), and Wendy Williams (Season 12).

Tristan MacManus will be paired with advocate, author, legal analyst Nancy Grace.  He is from Ireland and has competed throughout Europe.  He is also a theatre veteran of Cork City Opera House and The Gaiety Theatre.  He toured in the UK company of Strictly Ballroom, the original show on which DWTS is based.  He has been a featured performer in Burn the Floor and another show called Floorplay.  This is Tristan's first season as a pro on DWTS.

Valentin Chmerkovskiy will be paired with actor, fashion icon, philanthropist Elisabetta Canalis.  He competed as a 12 year old in the German Open and won his first IDSF World Championship at 15.  He is the current US Amateur Latin Champion, a Blackpool champion, a Professional Latin Champion, and a Philadelphia Festival Dancesport Champion.  He has performed in dance exhibitions on the show, but this is his first season as a pro.

There they are.  I still miss Julianne Hough.  And Edyta Sliwinska.  And Jonathan Roberts.  I'll miss Chelsie Hightower and Louis van Amstel this season. 

But it's great to see the return of Derek Hough.  And I think it's fantastic to see three new pros.  Welcome aboard Peta, Tristan, and Val. 

Don't forget now...premier night is 19 September.   

I think I'll return to regular blogging and blog rounds next week.   


Reason 64:  Because convincing someone that they are wrong is not nearly as important as understanding why you think you are right. 

Join us on 4 November.  You know you want to.