Jamie Lynn Spears Joins ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and Says She’s Donating Salary to SAG-AFTRA, WGA amid Strike

Jamie Lynn Spears is stepping into her dancing shoes for season 32 Dancing with the stars!

ABC revealed on Good morning America It’s Tuesday Zoey 102 and sweet magnolia star will join former Bachelorette Charity Lawson and Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix in the running for this year’s coveted Mirrorball trophy.

She will be paired with Alan Bersten, making them the first officially revealed couple for this season.

When asked if she was ready for that, Spears (32) said GMA“I don’t know if you can ever be 100% ready to take on something this big; I didn’t realize what kind of commitment it was, but it definitely is. I’m ready to challenge myself.”

Spears then revealed that she would be donating her weekly earnings to SAG-AFTRA and the WGA amid their ongoing strike. “While everyone else in my community is on strike, I have this unique opportunity where I’ve been offered the chance to work when my community can’t work. So I figured I’d do this and I’d donate my weekly wages… just give back to them at a time when they cannot fight back,” she said.

Rehearsals are already underway, said Bersten (29), noting that the two have already become close. We had the first rehearsal and it was great, he said. “Jamie Lynn is so hardworking and so dedicated and it’s actually so much fun. We get along so well.”

“He was wonderful,” Spears added. “My family met him and he was great. I wouldn’t want to do that with anyone else.”

As for how her family reacted to the news, Spears — who is mother to 5-year-old daughter Ivey Joan and 15-year-old daughter Maddie — said they have been supportive.

“My 15-year-old self was actually very motivated to do it, which was actually very surprising,” she noted. “My 15-year-old said, ‘You’re going to dance on TV? What are you doing mom?’ But she said, ‘Mom, you have to do it.’ She’s an athlete, so I think she wants to see me work hard.”

“Normally I would be working on different ventures, but I think it’s just important that I have this opportunity,” Spears continued. “And if I go up there, even if I embarrass myself, I’m doing it for a good reason and hopefully I’m giving back to the community that has literally been given back to me since I was a little girl.”

Jamie Lynn Spears. Jamie Lynn Spears – John Weast – Getty Images entertainment – GettyImages-459121730 Everything you need to know about ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 32

Season 32 of Dancing with the stars will premiere Tuesday, September 26 at 8:00 PM ET on ABC and will stream on Disney+ and Hulu.

The full cast will be unveiled Wednesday morning GMA. “The cast is amazing so it’s going to be very surprising,” Bersten said, with Spears adding that she’s excited to bond with her fellow contestants. “I’m looking forward to creating a whole new family and bonding through this. I think that’s going to be a very big part of it.”

Madix, 38, teased her turn in the ballroom with an Instagram video posted on Monday.

“I’m so excited to do it Dancing with the stars this season, I just met my partner. He’s really cool, but I can’t tell you who it is. The other people participating in this season are crazy. So you have to tune in GMAand you have to stay tuned to see who will be performing.”

‘Vanderpump Rules’ star Ariana Madix joins ‘Dancing with the Stars’ after Tom Sandoval cheating scandal

Madix was the first cast member to be announced for season 32 back in July. At the time, judge Derek Hough joked during the special GMA segment: “This season on Dancing with the stars, we’re going absolutely crazy — Madix crazy! Say goodbye to drama and hello to the dance floor!”

“That’s right, I did Vanderpump Rules‘ Ariana Madix and I will be joining the cast Dancing with the stars this season,” Madix added, before showing off some moves with Hough.

Charity Lawson attends ESSENCE Festival 2023 July 1, 2023 Ariana Madix attends Give Them Lala & Friends VIP Launch February 22, 2023

Arturo Holmes/Getty, Paul Archuleta/Getty

Lawson, 27, found out she would be participating in a dance competition at Bachelor finale after the engagement with Dotun Olubeko.

“So I know you like to cut, you like to dance and you like to get down,” Olubeko, 30, told Lawson. “And you know we talked about how amazing this opportunity would be, and I’m so happy to tell you that you’re going to be on Dancing with the stars.”

Charity Lawson joins ‘Dancing with the Stars’ after getting engaged on ‘The Bachelorette’

The new cast will compete in front of Hough and fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. (Former Chief Justice Len Goodman announced his retirement in November 2022, five months before his death at age 78.)

In addition to the changes at the judges’ table, ABC announced last March that Derek’s sister (and former professional colleague) Julianne Hough was set to co-host alongside former champion Alfonso Ribeiro following the departure of Tyra Banks after three seasons as host.

After streaming exclusively on Disney+ during season 31 in 2022. DWTS will return to its home network ABC for Season 32 and will be available to stream on Disney+ at the same time.

Carrie Anne, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli. ABC/Eric McCandless Everything you need to know about ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 32

Professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy confirmed his return for season 32, speaking Us Weekly that he is “very excited” to compete. He also teased the potential returns of his wife Jenna Johnson, who spent Season 31 while pregnant with their first-born son Romeo, and sister-in-law Peta Murgatroyd, who welcomed her second son Rio with husband Maks Chmerkovskiy in June.

Separately, pros Lindsay Arnold and Witney Carson have announced they will not be returning for the upcoming season DWTS. Arnold announced her departure after 14 seasons late last month on TikTok, and Carson followed suit shortly after.

“We didn’t make this decision lightly at all,” Carson said in her TikTok post, referring to herself and husband Carson McAllister. “But we’re not going to do that Dancing with the stars this season. And as much as it pains me to say it, I just feel very at peace with it.”

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Cheryl Burke also announced her departure in November DWTS after 17 years and 26 seasons in the series. “I cried non-stop,” the professional dancer told PEOPLE exclusively at the time.

“It was very emotional [are] a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement, but there’s also a lot of fear,” she said. “At the end of the day, this is actually maybe another divorce the way I go through in a year.”

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