Over the past 25 seasons of Dancing with the Stars, several athletes have competed (and won!) the reality TV show dance competition. Season 26 features 10 professional athletes in an intense four-week competition called Dancing with the Stars Athletes. The athletes include NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, MLB World Series champ Johnny Damon, and figure skaters Tonya Harding and Adam Rippon, among others. For the first night, Adam Rippon and his professional dance partner Jenna Johnson will perform a Cha Cha to the RuPaul song “Sissy That Walk.” RuPaul uses the phrase on his TV drag queen competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Adam Rippon won a bronze medal as part of the U.S. figure skating team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, which made Rippon the first openly gay U.S. male athlete to win a medal in a Winter Olympics. At the Olympics, Rippon voiced his concerns about VP Mike Pence leading the U.S. delegation due to Pence’s history of support for anti-gay legislation and policies. The 28-year-old Rippon came out publicly in 2015. Dancing with the Stars: Athletes airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
