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Robert Irwin has just met his first competitor.
A month after Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and Terri Irwin’s son was announced as the first celebrity dancer on Dancing With the Stars season 34, Alix Earle has been announced as the second celebrity who will be lacing up their dancing shoes.
The influencer's casting was revealed on Good Morning America May 22, where she gushed over the opportunity.
“I’ve always been a fan of Dancing with the Stars,” she said. “I used to watch it when I was so young with my grandma, and she would always say to me, ‘Maybe one day you could be on there.’”
“I was so in love with dance,” Alix, who danced competitively in high school, added. “I’m ready to challenge myself, I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun. So it was a very obvious answer to say yes.”
For Robert’s part, he had expressed that taking on the role feels “surreal.”
“I am over the moon to be joining Dancing With the Stars this season,” he admitted to E! News in April. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m ready to hit the ballroom. Let’s go, let’s do this. I don’t know how my dance moves are, but I’m gonna give it 110 percent anyway.”
As he put it, “Any exciting new project and really bring it back to the central message that we have which is conservation and protecting animals.”
Jeff Schear/Getty Images for Churchill Downs
And Robert admitted that all of his excitement toward the journey ahead also comes from reminiscing on his sister Bindi Irwin’s season 21 win—which he “vividly” remembers.
“I was 11 years old when she did the show, a decade ago,” he reminisced. “I just sat there watching in the crowd every night. I was so proud of her.”
And now it is Bindi who’s proud.
“Robert, you are going to absolutely shine in the ballroom," Bindi wrote in an April 22 Instagram post. “I wish I could express the magnitude of how proud I am of you and everything you have achieved.”
Indeed, Bindi—who won DWTS season 21 with pro partner Derek Hough—emphasized she’d be with her brother every step of the way.
Disney/Kat Nijmeddin
“Can't wait to cheer you on each week as you inspire so many with your strength, kindness and determination," she gushed. “Here's to an extraordinary journey ahead.”
Robert and Alix are about to embark on quite the journey, but not every star has wanted to dance. Keep reading for more stars who turned down a slot on the show…
ABC
Nick Carter
Backstreet Boys Nick Carter finally got to show off his moves in season 21 after years of not being available. "I was approached for like 4 to 5 years in a row," he tells E! News. "Unfortunately, and fortunately, I was on the road with the Backstreet Boys touring and doing album cycles, so now that I have some time, that we're in between, I could take the advantage of doing it."
ABC
Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin, Australian TV personality and daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, also joined season 21. However, this wasn't the first time she had the chance to hit the dance floor. "I was approached once before, and I said, oh my goodness!" she tells E! News. "We were in the middle of our Crocodile research trip and it was all happening, so it worked out really well that we were able to join this season, so I'm thrilled to be a part of it."
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Demi Moore
After her daughter Rumer Willis won season 20 of DWTS, with her mom in the audience at almost every taping, Moore was close to joining the season 21 cast, sources told E! News, but she decided to turn down the offer.
Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Caitlyn Jenner
Former champ Alfonso Ribeiro revealed to E! News that the show was interested in having the I Am Cait reality star compete for the trophy but that she said no, choosing not to follow in Kim Kardashian and Rob Kardashian's footsteps.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Christian Siriano
Lindsay Lohan
The Mean Girls star was reportedly approached to do the show back in season 16 but said no.
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Paula Deen
The controversial celeb chef had previously turned down the chance to dance two times before finally joining the cast in season 21, as E! News exclusively reported.
"They did ask me," she told Extra in 2010, "and I said no."
Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Tiffani Thiessen
Though several of her former Saved By the Bell co-stars have competed, Thiessen declined DWTS' offer. "I've been asked a few times," she once told The Huffington Post, "but my response to that is that I am an actor, not a dancer."
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Bobby Flay
Paula Deen isn't the only celeb chef DWTS has courted. Flay said he also turned down the show, with the Food Network star once explaining to Zagat that he didn't want to "be known as that guy on Dancing with the Stars." Another reason? "My wife told me that she would divorce me if I did it." (He and ex-wife Stephanie March have since divorced.)
Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Image
Geraldo Rivera
While sources told E! he said no to DWTS, he said yes to appearing on Celebrity Apprentice.
ABC/ADAM TAYLOR
Kirstie Alley
Though she went on to become a fan-favorite in the ballroom, the now-late actress originally said no to DWTS, tweeting she was "too chicken."
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Gayle King
The CBS This Morning host and Oprah Winfrey's BFF turned the the show down not once, not twice, but THREE times. "I think it's good to keep my public humiliation to a minimum," she told US Weekly. "I would never want to embarrass my children ever...or myself! I can't dance."
Adela Loconte/WireImage
Ricky Shroder
DWTS producers called in a favor to Alfonso when it came to the NYPD Blue star, asking the former champ to find out if he would join the show. Too bad it didn't work, as Ribeiro told E! News, his pal said, "Eh, I don't dance!"
David Livingston/Getty Images
Jamie Lee Curtis
The Oscar winner has vowed to never do the show. BUT she did admit there is a way they could possibly get her to join. "I'll tell you how I would do Dancing With the Stars," she once told E! News. "If they gave me a million dollars to give to charity...I would only do it if there was a big charity component. "
SGranitz/WireImage
Queen Latifah
"No truth to the rumors of me doing Dancing With the Stars," Queen Latifah tweeted back in 2011. "Love the show though so I'll be watching just like you!" However, the Grammy winner has been a guest performer on the show.
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