It's True! Chris Soules Is Joining Dancing With the Stars

The Bachelor star is set to compete with Witney Carson when DWTS returns on March 16

By Tierney Bricker Mar 04, 2015 10:07 PMTags
Chris Soules, The BachelorABC/Craig Sjodin

Meet Dancing With the Stars' season 20's final celeb contestant: Chris Soules!

Yes, that's right, a source tells E! News that The Bachelor star is sticking within ABC's reality family a little longer, joining the cast of DWTS' new season, which premieres Monday, March 16. 

The news comes just days before The Bachelor finale on Monday, which will find Chris ending up with either Whitney or Becca. What a time to be alive for Prince Farming! (Per usual, ABC does not comment on casting rumors.)

And lucky for Chris, he's got a pretty darn good partner inside the ballroom: Witney Carson, who won last season with Alfonso Ribeiro.

Chris isn't the first Bachelor alum to compete on DTWS: Sean Lowe competed in 2013, while Melissa Rycroft danced in season eight, before returning to win the All-Stars edition.  Those are some big dancing shoes to fill!

At the beginning of his Bachelor journey, Chris told us he was "open" to doing DWTS. "At this point, why not?" he said. "I went through The Bachelorette and never thought I'd do that and did it and it was a great experience. Now being the Bachelor, it's been an extraordinary experience...I'm open to a lot of opportunities, I'd be willing to consider these sort of things. But I'm going to do what's best for me and do what's right and what I feel is right for my future."

PHOTOS: How Chris Soules ranks among the best and worst Bachelors of all time

ABC/Fred Lee

Chris did admit to having one hesitation about joining the cast. "I think I need to do some yoga because watching those people and some of the stuff they do," he said. "I'm not a very flexible guy, so I am going to need to get limbered up if that's going to happen!"

The other 11 competitors were announced back in February, including NFL star Michael Sam, Suzanne Somers, Rumer Willis and Hunger Games actress Willow Shields. And Chris' involvement wasn't the first major surprise of the season as fan-favorite professional dancer Derek Hough, who originally was supposed to sit this season out to make his Broadway debut, made a last-minute decision to compete in season 20.

DWTS returns on Monday, March 16 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

—Reporting by Kristin Dos Santos