Dancing With the Stars is anticipating a touchdown-worthy Super Bowl Night with four NFL veterans lacing up their ballroom shoes once more.
“We can exclusively reveal that NFL legends and Dancing with the Stars alumni Emmitt Smith, Donald Driver, DeMarcus Ware, and Danny Amendola will be back,” season 34 alum Andy Richter said on the Thursday, October 8, episode of the show’s official companion podcast. “All of them [will be] dancing in the ballroom next week. You do not want to miss that.”
Smith, 57, and Driver, 51, won DWTS seasons 3 and 14, respectively, while Ware, 44, appeared on the 27th season in 2018. Six years later, Amendola, 40, competed on season 33.
The four former football players’ routine will join the competitive numbers, in which the season 35 cast will tackle songs from memorable halftime show performances in front of guest judge Joe Buck.
“Lady Gaga is iconic [and] that Super Bowl performance was so iconic,” pro Val Chmerkovskiy said on the podcast, teasing his Paso Doble with Jenna Dewan. “I think she leans into the creativity of the performance, and so, we’ll get weird. We’ll get Paso, but we’ll get weird and really put on the show.”
Chmerkovskiy, 40, and Dewan, 45, will perform to Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” already planning to embrace the pop star’s signature theatrics.
“What I’m excited about is we’ve been very stripped down as far as using other bodies in our piece, and this will be the first time we’ll be able to use some of the troupe [and] some of the other dancers to be a part of it,” the three-time mirrorball champion teased. “So, that way we [can] paint different pictures and really highlight Jenna in a different way.”
Dewan is equally excited to watch the ballroom transform into the gridiron.
“I can’t wait. I live for Super Bowl performances,” she gushed. “Everyone loves the Super Bowl. I’m like, ‘Well, when’s halftime?’ That’s how I am, and I loved Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl [set in 2017]. So, I’m living my best life.”
Reimagining Gaga’s beloved performance will be “the closest I’ll ever feel to being in a sporting event”, Dewan said, with Chmerkovskiy hoping their routine will mimic the same “intensity” as a halftime show performance.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
