Alaska News

Bristol Palin back for another bout on 'Dancing with the Stars'

According to Reuters, Bristol Palin -- the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- will join a dozen celebrities for the first all-star version of "Dancing with the Stars" in September on ABC.

So for those keeping score at home, here's your Palin Celebrity Television Scorecard:

• Bristol is headlining "Life's A Tripp" on the Lifetime network, despite the scathing reviews and a shrinking audience of about 1 million viewers. Plus "Dancing with the Stars."

• Todd will debut after the Summer Olympics on the NBC show "Stars Earn Stripes" in which celebrities (yes, Todd is considered a celebrity for who he married and fathered, not his four wins in the Iron Dog snowmachine race) are worked to near exhaustion by military trainers.

• And matriarch Sarah, the mother lode of family publicity, continues to comment on political news from her Fox News perch. In fact, with Mitt Romney's nomination secure, if you want drama from the Republican National Convention and don't particularly care who becomes the vice presidential nominee, you're left with the question of whether Sarah shows up -- and in what role?

Pity poor son Track, out of the celebrity spotlight as an Iraq War veteran and member of the Alaska National Guard. He clearly has come catching up to do.

Bristol, 21, will join former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson, pop singer Drew Lachey, ex-"Cheers" actress Kirstie Alley, gymnast Shawn Johnson starting on Sept. 24.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I just think that God provides opportunities like this and you can either do them or not do them. I figure the press will talk about me no matter what, so I may as well have some fun," Palin told television reporters on Friday.

Bristol added that the idea that reality TV was family's stock in trade was wrong. "It's definitely not our family business," she said, though she thought it helped her provide for her son.

Other Dancing Stars who will retrun: actress Kelly Monaco, reality star Melissa Rycroft, singer Joey Fatone, football player Emmitt Smith, speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, race car driver Helio Castroneves and actor Gilles Marini.

The all-stars program is planned to reverse a dip in ratings for "Dancing with the Stars" last season, even it still was among the five most-watched programs on American television during the season that ended in May.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT