Nancy McKeon is heading to the ballroom! The Facts of Life alum has joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars season 27.
McKeon, 52, and her pro dance partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, announced the news during an appearance on Good Morning America on Wednesday, September 5.
“He is awesome. He is the most amazing partner,” she gushed. “[He has] more patience than anybody I know, and I’m so lucky.”
The actress then poked fun at Chmerkovskiy, 32, for never watching the NBC sitcom, on which she played Jo Polniaczek from 1980 to 1988. “Urkel was his man!” she joked, referencing Jaleel White’s character on Family Matters. (White finished in seventh place on DWTS season 14 in 2012 with partner Kym Johnson.)
Though McKeon and the two-time Mirrorball champion are only three days into rehearsals, she said he has already been a tough teacher: “[He is] making sure that I have what I need to maybe keep up with him. I’m not certain it’s all going to come together, but we’re going to try.”
McKeon is not the first Facts of Life star to compete on the ABC series. Kim Fields was partnered with pro Sasha Farber on season 22 in 2016. They were eliminated in week 7.
The upcoming season will find Chmerkovskiy facing off against his fiancée, Jenna Johnson. She won the special Athletes season with Olympian Adam Rippon in May.
“I’m officially moved to the couch now,” the Ukrainian choreographer quipped on GMA of his rivalry with Johnson, 24. “I’m starting to deal with it.”
Season 27 of Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC Monday, September 24, at 8 p.m. ET.
