ABC revealed the contestants for the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, and ooo wee, it looked like a mess just waiting to happen. The latest season, which will kick off on March 9, has a new batch of actors, athletes, and trainwrecks lined up to cha-cha for ratings.

For the first time on the show, a celebrity couple, singer Jewel and her husband, rodeo star Ty Murray, will compete against each other. In another first, two-time Dancing champ-turned-country-singer Julianne Hough will compete with her boyfriend, country singer Chuck Wicks.

“It’s the most diverse cast we’ve had,” Deena Katz, Dancing’s Senior Talent Producer tells People. “The women are phenomenal and the men are such great characters.”

Rounding out the celebrity lineup will be the youngest contestant ever on the show, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, 17. Also ready to rumba are pop star Belinda Carlisle, actress Denise Richards, former NFL star Lawrence Taylor, rapper Lil’ Kim, Jackass star Steve-O, Apple computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, actors David Alan Grier and Gilles Marini, and Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O’Dell.

I’ve never watched a full season of Dancing with the Stars, but I will most def be Tivo’ing this time just to see Lil’ Kim’s costumes.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Denise Richards, Steve-O. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.