With an ever increasing fan base, Dancing with the Stars returned on September 24, 2007 and brought with it an extra long premier week. With three episodes offered initially it was an extremely long week and the season ended on November 27, 2007. During the season, the co-host Samantha Harris took time off to have her baby and was temporarily replaced by season two winner Drew Lachey.
The season started with an interesting mix of twelve celebrities as well as twelve professional dancers all teamed up.
Josie Maran a successful model that has appeared in numerous magazines and photo spreads. She was partnered up with Alec Mazo and was eliminated early in the competition the very first week on September 24, 2007.
Albert Reed another successful model who has worked with companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch danced with professional Anna Trebunskaya. After a very limited stay on the show, they were eliminated on October 2, 2007.
Wayne Newton the favorite of many old western movies appeared and was partnered with former professional champion Cheryl Burke. After just three weeks on the show, the pair was eliminated on October 9, 2007 and Wayne rode off into the sunset.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. a WBC welterweight champion boxer nicknamed “Pretty Boy” was tied to professional Karina Smirnoff. The pair danced together for several weeks until they were eliminated on October 16, 2007.
Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur who was professionally teamed with Kym Johnson. About halfway through the season they were eliminated on October 23, 2007.
Sabrina Bryan a member of the Cheetah Girls was paired with Mark Ballas. After performing extremely well for several weeks, it was an outrage to many viewers when the pair was eliminated on October 30, 2007.
Jane Seymour an actress known for many different roles was paired with professional Tony Dovolani. After remaining on longer than Sabrina Bryan, many were upset over the voting process. Eliminated from the show on November 6, 2007.
Cameron Mathison an actor on All My Children the ABC soap opera as well as several different television shows. Paired up to dance with professional Edyta Sliwinska they remained on the show for quite a while, only being eliminated on November 13, 2007.
Jennie Garth, best known for her role as Kelly on Beverly Hills, 90210 performed beautifully was paired with Derek Hough. The pair performed wonderfully until they were eliminated on November 20, 2007 to finish in fourth place.
Marie Osmond an entertainer who had not performed quite as well as expected was paired up to Jonathan Roberts. The duo came in third place on the November 27, 2007 season finale. However, many were extremely upset that Marie Osmond made it to third place beating out several others that were more talented.
Melanie Brown, a member of the girl power group Spice Girls and called Scary Spice was paired to Maksim Chmerkovskiy for the season. Performing beautifully the entire season it was expected that they would win first place. However, they only pulled out a second place win during the season finale on November 27, 2007.
Helio Castroneves an Indy 500 Race Car Champion and speed demon on the roads was paired up with Julianne Hough. Many were upset over the win for Helio and Julianne and claimed that the title was stolen due to Melanie being a substantially better dancer. Regardless of the reason, the duo danced their way to victory and pulled out the first place finish for the finale.
As you can just imagine, the entire season was filled with excitement. From a Cheetah Girl to a Spice Girl and even throwing in a boxer, racecar driver and a few actors it was a truly unique and remarkable season. The overall shockers were fairly minimal except for the extended length that Marie Osmond stayed and the loss that Melanie Brown received rather than actually winning the title.