Why ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Pro Lindsay Arnold Will Sit Out Season 29

It’s still not entirely clear what Season 29 of “Dancing With the Stars” could even look like due to ongoing stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Lindsay Arnold, one of the show’s pros who won Season 25, is most likely not going to be participating if the show still airs this Fall.

Arnold, 26, took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce that she and her husband, Samuel Cusick, are expecting their first child together, revealing in the caption of her post that their baby will be born in November of this year. The news was exciting for her fellow pros from the ABC show, as they all expressed excitement in the comments on the post.

“Yesssssssssssssssssss can’t wait to meet baby Sasha!!!!! You are calling it Sasha right?” Sasha Farber wrote.

“Lets GOOOOO! Uncle B is ready,” Brandon Armstrong added.

“I LOVE THIS BABY SOOOOOOO MUCH ALREADY!!!!!! Auntie Jenna is waiting to meet you sweet little angel baby,” Jenna Johnson said.

Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Val Chmerkovskiy, Alan Bersten, Peta Murgatroyd, Maks Chmerkovskiy, Cheryl Burke and Keo Motsepe also left comments on the post as well, sharing their excitement.

However, the news does mean that if the show does come back in the Fall as planned, that Arnold will likely have to sit things out since she would be in her final trimester and likely wouldn’t be able to compete and perform in the same way. She has not said anything in regards to plans for the new season.

Though ABC still plans to air Season 29 of the long-running show in the Fall, how things will go is not yet determined, as sets are still shut down around L.A. due to the pandemic, and even if those restrictions are lifted in enough time for the teams to practice and the show to tape, there will still likely be extensive social distancing measures in place which could mean filming without an audience, or even, a “DWTS” from home type of season.

“At the end of the day, I can teach Matt [Lawrence] how to dance. I think it’ be really cool to teach your loved one at home how to dance,” Cheryl Burke said in April. “It could be a different type of experience, but I think we kind of have to go with the flow when it comes to changing. This is our world evolving and we must evolve with it. I know change is hard and especially for me too, but better to just surrender.”

As for Arnold, if she does have to sit the season out because of her pregnancy, it would be the first time she missed a season since Season 21. She made her debut in Season 16 before becoming part of the troupe until 21 and has remained a pro ever since. She won Season 25 with Jordan Fisher and placed in the finals with David Ross, Calvin Johnson Jr and Alec Skarlatos. She most recently danced with Sean Spicer.