ABC ANNOUNCES THE CELEBRITY AND PROFESSIONAL PAIRINGS FOR "DANCING WITH THE STARS," PREMIERING MARCH 22 ON ABC

The "Dancing with the Stars" Pros Begin Training Their New Celebrity Partners, As the Couples Get Set to Showcase Their Fancy Footwork

One New Professional Ballroom Dancer Joins the Show, Damian Whitewood

An all-new cast of celebrities and their professional partners hit the dance floor on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere, MONDAY, MARCH 22 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

In alphabetical order, and with their professional partners, the 11 stars making their ballroom dancing debut are:

� BUZZ ALDRIN, legendary astronaut, partners up with ASHLY COSTA (formerly DelGrosso), who returns for her fourth season.

� PAMELA ANDERSON, actress and model, joins professional dancer DAMIAN WHITEWOOD, who makes his "Dancing with the Stars" debut this season.

� ERIN ANDREWS, ESPN host, teams with MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, who returns for his eighth season.

� SHANNEN DOHERTY, actress, teams up with two-time "Dancing with the Stars" champ MARK BALLAS, who returns for his sixth season.

� KATE GOSSELIN, TLC star, teams with TONY DOVOLANI, who returns for his ninth season.

� EVAN LYSACEK, Olympic figure skating champion, teams with ANNA TREBUNSKAYA, who returns for her fifth season.

� NIECY NASH, comedienne and host, teams up with LOUIS VAN AMSTEL, who returns for his sixth season

� CHAD OCHOCINCO, NFL Star, teams up with two-time champion CHERYL BURKE, who returns for her ninth season.

� JAKE PAVELKA, "The Bachelor" star, joins CHELSIE HIGHTOWER, who returns for her third season.

� NICOLE SCHERZINGER, pop star, teams with Season 7 champ DEREK HOUGH, who returns for his sixth season.

� AIDEN TURNER, soap star, teams with EDYTA SLIWINSKA, who is the only pro to compete in all 10 seasons of "Dancing with the Stars."

All 11 teams will showcase their fancy footwork for the first time on MONDAY, MARCH 22 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET), with no eliminations in first week of the competition. In week two, all of the couples will return and try to outshine each other once again in a two-hour show, MONDAY, MARCH 29 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET). The couple with the lowest combined judges' scores and public votes for both performances will be sent home on TUESDAY, MARCH 30 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) in the season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show."

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. AT&T customers may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Hosted by Tom Bergeron ("America's Funniest Home Videos"), the celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, who all return for their tenth season together.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade is co-executive producer. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

About BBC Worldwide Productions:

BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the U.S., BBC Worldwide Productions, one of BBC Worldwide's seven core businesses, is based in Los Angeles and New York. It is responsible for the smash hit "Dancing with the Stars" and develops scripted and non-scripted projects for U.S. cable and broadcast networks.