Season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars” will debut on September 26 as originally planned, According to report.
According to a statement from the network, “ABC can confirm that ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will premiere as originally scheduled on Tuesday, Sept 26 at 8pm EDT.” “The season will also simulcast LIVE on Disney+ and be available next day on Hulu.”
Hollywood writers, who have been on strike since the spring, were informed on Sunday that they had achieved a “tentative” deal with the studios, who are represented by The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP.
According to the announcement by “Veep” actor Matt Walsh that he was “taking a pause” from the show “until an agreement was made” in the WGA strike, ABC indicated that the network was putting measures in place to postpone the new season of the reality competition series.
Walsh’s rep told ABC News that he will be in the cast.
In a statement released on September 21, Walsh, who is paired with professional dancer Koko Iwasaki, said that he was initially “excited” to join the show and “did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement.”
The Emmy-nominated actor claimed that after learning that his work was “considered struck work” by the WGA, he left a rehearsal and declared, “I have been and will always stand with my union members of the WGA, SAG and DGA.”
The strike, Walsh continued, should be resolved “a speedy and fair resolution,” and he expressed the desire to “to one day work again with all the wonderful people I met at DWTS who tolerated my dancing.”
According to a source familiar with the show’s production, “Dancing With the Stars” has a crew of 500 people and one WGA writer on duty.
The WGA, which represents about 11,000 television and film writers, had been on strike for 146 days as of Sunday.
“WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP,” read an email sent to WGA members Sunday night. “This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days.”
The writers’ union’s negotiating committee described the “tentative” agreement as “exceptional,” offering “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.” Details of the “tentative” agreement are still undisclosed.
In the middle of July, the writers’ strike was joined by the roughly 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
The 32nd season of “Dancing with the Stars” cast was unveiled on September 13 on “Good Morning America.”