Dancing With the Stars returns for its 18th season Monday, March 17 at 8 pm EST on ABC. There will be a new band, new cast, new twist and a new host joining Tom Bergeron. Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews will replace long time co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet.
Speaking to E! News, Bergeron called Andrews "very energetic and smart and funny."
This season's lineup of stars includes Cody Simpson, NeNe Leakes, Drew Carey and Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White. They will perform for the first time on live national television with their professional partners.
"Particularly to have [Olympic gold medalists] Meryl Davis and Charlie White, they've been together 17 years as partners, and this is the first time they've split up and they'll be competing against each other," Bergeron said. "A lot of interesting possibilities with this cast."
The competition will feature a new game changing twist called "The Switch Up", which will give America to vote and change celebrities and professional dance pairings. This new rule will affect all couples as they will be required to switch partners at a point in the season.
"I'm not sure yet how it's going to play out. I don't know if it's just for a week or whatever they do it they're going to do it for the balance of the season, so I'm kind of as curious as you and the dancers are, as to how this is going to play," the DWTS host Tom Bergeron told E! News. "It's either going to be very intriguing and exciting or a trainwreck."
Fans can watch the show live stream by clicking here. If you miss the episode, make sure to go to ABC official website the following day and watch the video clips for free.
Here is the complete list of the 12 stars with their professional partners:
•Olympic ice dancing gold medalist Meryl Davis &Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Olympic ice dancing gold medalist Charlie White &Sharna Burgess
• Full House actress Candace Cameron Bure & Mark Ballas
• The Wonder Years actress Danica McKellar & Valentin Chmerkovskiy
• Olympian Para-snowboarder Amy Purdy & Derek Hough
• Former NHL player Sean Avery & Karina Smirnoff
• Singer/actor Billy Dee Williams & Emma Slater
• Big Time Rush band member James Maslow & Peta Murgatroyd
• Long distance swimmer Diana Nyad & Henry Byalikov
• Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes & Tony Dovolani
• Pop star Cody Simpson&Witney Carson
• Comedian Drew Carey & Cheryl Burke
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday nights during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the "Dancing with the Stars" broadcast in each time zone. Online voting at www.ABC.com and on Facebook at https://apps.facebook.com/votedwts/ is open for 24 hours, beginning from the start of each episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT on Tuesday evenings.
For the final week, on Monday, May 19, online voting will open for 15 hours, beginning from the start of the episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 11:00 a.m., ET/8:00 a.m., PT the next day. A custom Facebook app lets fans vote, share whom they voted for and say why, as well as see whom friends voted for.
