It’s almost time for sorta-stars to be dancing

Let’s call this “Dancing With the Sorta-Stars.”
When “Dancing With the Stars” starts its season (Sept. 16 on ABC and Disney+), it will have a few actual stars (Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, shown here, for instance) and a lot of others. That includes influencers, reality-show people, former teen actors and the brothers of Zac Efron and Bindi Irwin.
This will be the 20th anniversary and 34th edition of the show, which used to have two editions a year on ABC. The 2022 season was only on Disney+; then, facing strikes, ABC began simulcasting it with the streamer.
Along the way, the notion of stardom has been stretched. This edition has:
— Chiles, 24, part of the U.S. gymnastics team that won gold. The show has already been won by six Olympians — gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Laurie Hernandez and skaters Apolo Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi, Meryl Davis and Adam Rippon.
— Baron Davis, 46. In pro basketball, he was a two-time all-star.
— Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt, both from Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” (Disney owns Hulu, ABC and Disney+.)
— Robert Irwin, 21. He’s a wildlife expert and conservationist, like his dad, Steve Irwin of “Crocodile Hunter” fame. His sister, Bindi, was the 2015 “Dancing With the Stars” winner.
— Dylan Efron, 33. He joins his brother Zac for a travel-adventure show online. He was also one of the winners of this year’s “Traitors.”
— Two more Internet stars, Hilaria Baldwin and Alix Earle.
— Two former child stars — Danielle Fishel (“Boy Meets World”), 44, and Corey Feldman (“Gremlins,” “Goonies,” “Stand By Me”), 54.
— Two members of popular singing groups — Scott Hoying of Pentatonix and Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony.
— Also: Andy Richter, 58, formerly Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” sidekick, and Elaine Hendrix, 54, who became an actress after an accident ended her dancing career.