Dancing with the Stars Will Not Air in Spring 2019
Dancing With the Stars will reportedly be straying away from its TV lineup tradition of two seasons per year.
ABC’s dancing competition series will be taking a hiatus and skipping its usual spring cycle, according to ABC That means season 27 winner Bobby Bones will be holding onto his Mirrorball Trophy for a calendar year.
DWTS is expected to return to ABC’s lineup in fall 2019.
News of the franchise’s hiatus comes after Bones’ surprise win with dance pro Sharna Burgess, beating out finalists Alexis Ren and Alan Bersten, Milo Manheim and Witney Carson, and Evanna Lynch and Keo Motsepe.
Even Bones himself was shocked to be named champion. Reflecting on his win in November, Bones told reporters that he was “in shock” about taking home the trophy, adding, “I apologized so many times to [Sharna] for getting stuck with me because she’s so good and talented. … It didn’t make sense, but she stuck with me.”
RELATED: Sky Brown and JT Church Crowned Champions of Dancing with the Stars: Juniors
The pushing back of season 28 also gives longtime judge Carrie Ann Inaba time to focus on her new role on The Talk.
PEOPLE confirmed Inaba, 50, will replace Julie Chen as co-host. Starting January 2019, Inaba will be filling in the vacant seat left by Chen, who departed the daytime show on Sept. 18 after eight seasons following her husband and former CBS CEO Leslie “Les” Moonves’ sexual misconduct scandal.
In addition to her new role on The Talk, Inaba is scheduled to continue to be a judge on DWTS with Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, a position she has had since the show premiered in 2005.
