'Honey Boo Boo' among the young hoofers joining 'Dancing With the Stars: Juniors'
The young performers who'll appear on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors" on Oct. 7. Credit: ABC/Eric McCandless
Child actors, some reality stars and the scions of celebrities, among others, will compete on the debut edition of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors."
Hosted by former child actor and "Dancing With the Stars" season 25 third-place finisher Frankie Muniz, the spinoff premieres Oct. 7 with a dozen children, each matched with a young ballroom competitive dancer and mentored by one of the original series' ballroom pros.
The five actors are New York-born Ariana Greenblatt, 11, who plays Daphne Diaz on Disney Channel's "Stuck in the Middle," partnered with Artyon Celestine and mentored by Brandon Armstrong; Miles Brown, 13, of "Black-ish," partnered with Rylee Arnold and mentored by Arnold's older sister, Lindsay Arnold Cusick; Jason Maybaum, 10, from Disney Channel's "Raven's Home," partnered with Elliana Walmsley and mentored by Emma Slater; Hudson West, 10, who plays Jake Spencer on "General Hospital," partnered with Kameron Couch and mentored by Hayley Erbert; and YouTube actress-singer Mackenzie Ziegler, 14, partnered with Sage Rosen and mentored by Gleb Savchenko.
Reality TV is represented by Tripp Johnston ("Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp"), 9, son of Bristol Palin and grandson of Sarah Palin, partnered with Hailey Bills and mentored by Bills' aunt, "DWTS" season 26 champ Jenna Johnson; Addison Osta Smith, 13, who won season 4 of "MasterChef Junior," partnered with Lev Khmelev and mentored by Keo Motsepe; and Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson ("Toddlers & Tiaras," "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo"), 12, with Tristan Ianiero, mentored by Artem Chigvintsev.
Mandla Morris, 13, the seventh child of music legend Stevie Wonder, is partnered with Brightyn Brems and mentored by Cheryl Burke; while Sophia Pippen, 9, the daughter of six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen, is partnered with Jake Monreal and mentored by Sasha Farber.
Rounding out the cast are 10-year-old Japanese skateboarding prodigy Sky Brown, partnered with J.T. Church and mentored by Alan Bersten; and Akash Vukoti, 9, who at 6 became the youngest boy to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee, and who is partnered with Kamri Peterson and mentored by Witney Carson.
The judges are "DWTS" ballroom pro Val Chmerkovskiy, choreographer Mandy Moore and "Dancing With the Stars: Athletes" champ Adam Rippon.
