Dancing With the Stars: Who'll Be Hoofing It Up for the New Season?

Eclectic mix of celebs will be mambo-ing their way toward the mirror-ball trophy, including Jack Wagner, Gavin DeGraw, Jaleel White, Sherri Shepherd and Gladys Knight

By Alexis L. Loinaz Feb 28, 2012 2:05 PMTags
Dancing with the Stars judges: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno TonioliABC/KELSEY McNEAL

Now ready: a five, six, seven, eight!

Dancing With the Stars has announced its next roster of celebs who'll be cha-cha-cha-ing, mambo-ing and tango-ing their way toward the prized mirror-ball trophy.

It's an eclectic mix of music stars, TV vets, athletes (natch!) and one iconic soul legend.

Here's who'll be strapping on those dancing shoes and shaking their well-toned derrieres...

Getty Images (4); WireImage

Cohosts Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke broke the news live on Good Morning America today, and the contestants strutted out on stage to give audiences a teeny tease of what to expect.

They include TV stars Melissa Gilbert, Jack Wagner (who's generated rocky headlines lately with estranged ex Heather Locklear) and Urkel himself, Jaleel White.

They'll be battling it out with TV hosts Sherri Shepherd and Maria Menounos.

Athletes, you say? Of course! You've got Green Bay Packer Donald Driver and tennis icon Martina Navratilova, who'll certainly be putting their athletic prowess to good use.

Telenovela star William Levy is also on the bill (although he wasn't able to personally make it to the big GMA reveal).

And the music world offers up its own hodgepodge of hopefuls: There's country crooner Gavin DeGraw, opera diva Katherine Jenkins, Disney and hip-hop star Roshon Fegan, and—this year's bigwig—music icon Gladys Knight.

The last season saw its fair share of nail-biters and controversies. Daytime soap star and Iraq army vet J.R. Martinez, along with partner Karina Smirnoff, waltzed away with the top prize, and he got some heated competition from runners-up Ricki Lake and Rob Kardashian.

But the season's most polarizing contestant turned out to be Chaz Bono, who faced vicious haters and endured some bitchy comments from the judges.

Good luck to the new crop of contestants! A tip: Use lotsa sticky tape to avoid some unfortunate wardrobe malfunctions!