Well, we probably should have expected this.
Michael Phelps, who’s already scheduled to appear on the Golf Channel reality TV show ‘The Hank Haney Project’ in February said Tuesday that he wouldn’t rule out an appearance on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’
“I haven’t really been known for my dancing,” the legendary swimmer told US Weekly. “I know everyone who’s done it -- I’ve talked to Apolo (Anton Ohno) and Natalie (Coughlin) about it, and they said they’ve enjoyed it and had a blast… who knows?”
We probably wouldn’t put our money on a goofy, presumably uncoordinated, 6’4” guy who spends more time in the water than on land, but Olympians have been famously successful on the show. Three, including the speedskating Ohno, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, and Beijing gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, have gone on to win the show’s Mirror Ball.
When pressed to pick a partner, Phelps ignored the skilled professional dancers and instead chose Coughlin, his USA Swimming teammate who finished 10th on the show a few seasons ago.
“She’s gone through it all before and Natalie and I have been on a lot of teams together,” he explained. “She literally couldn’t stop talking about how much fun the show was.”
They might have finally found a way to get us to watch.