Savannah Bananas’ Jackson Olson joins ‘Dancing with the Stars’ season 35
Jackson Olson plays the fans as the Savannah Bananas take on the Party Animals at Campanelli Stadium on August 16, 2023 in Brockton, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Savannah Bananas second baseman and social media personality Jackson Olson is trading the baseball field for the dance floor.
Olson has officially joined Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity contestant, ABC announced during Disney’s Upfront presentation on Tuesday.
The internet creator and baseball star is the latest celebrity revealed for the upcoming season, joining previously announced contestants Maura Higgins of The Traitors and Love Island and Ciara Miller of Summer House.
The full celebrity cast and professional dancer lineup will be announced Sept. 2 exclusively on Good Morning America.
Olson has gained a massive following online through his mix of baseball content, personal storytelling and behind-the-scenes moments from life with the Savannah Bananas, the viral exhibition baseball team known for its entertaining spin on the sport.
Along with sharing baseball insights and highlights from his career as a second baseman, Olson’s content often focuses on relationships, family, food and everyday life experiences.
The Savannah Bananas have become a social media sensation in recent years for their fast-paced and comedic style of baseball, often compared to the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, with Olson emerging as one of the team’s most recognizable personalities.
Dancing with the Stars is coming off a milestone Season 34, which marked the show’s best finale performance in a decade, according to ABC.
The show will air live this fall on ABC and Disney+, with episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.
Zendaya on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Disney/Randy Holmes)
Zendaya has worked alongside stars including John David Washington, Colman Domingo and Timothée Chalamet, but during a recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, she revealed someone who is on her collaboration bucket list.
“You know, I would love to work with Ryan Coogler. … For years I’ve felt this way, since Fruitvale Station,” she said of her fellow Bay Area native. “I thought that was such a beautiful and powerful film. But I’m from Oakland, too, and I remember when that happened.”
“He means so much to the world but he also means so much to us,” she went on. “I always joke, I’m like, ‘I know I don’t know you. But I feel like you’re my cousin,’ you know what I mean? He sounds like my family, his accent is so strong, and so Oakland.”
She continued, “He just makes beautiful work, absolutely beautiful work. So talented.”
Zendaya most recently worked alongside Robert Pattinson; their new film, The Drama, is now available to watch in theaters nationwide.
Sam Neill attends the 2025 AACTA Awards presented By Foxtel Group at HOTA (Home of the Arts) on Feb. 7, 2025, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images for AFI)
Jurassic Park star Sam Neill is opening up about his battle with Stage 3 blood cancer.
The actor said he is now cancer free after a near five-year battle with lymphoma. He recently told the Australian network 7News about his treatment.
“I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years, and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business but it was keeping me alive,” Neill said.
The actor, who played Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, said chemotherapy eventually stopped working for him.
“I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously,” Neill said.
He then underwent a cutting edge treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies blood cells. Neill said this has made him cancer free.
“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” Neill said. “I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”
Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift embrace after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Music superstar Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce are officially husband and wife.
The couple wed in a ceremony officiated by Adam Sandler, a representative for Swift confirmed to ABC News Friday.
Swift’s brother, Austin Swift, served as her “man of honor,” while Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, served as his best man. They were the only members of the wedding party, according to the rep.
Both the bride and groom wore custom looks by Dior, with the bride wearing a haute couture gown designed by Jonathan Anderson.
No official wedding photos have been released by the couple, who held a two-day wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden said to include more than 1,000 guests.
Celebrities including actors Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke and Jason Sudeikis, singer Benson Boone, soccer legend Abby Wambach and NFL stars Chris Jones and Cooper Kupp were photographed arriving at MSG late Friday afternoon in black-tie attire as a cocktail hour was scheduled to begin, sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
On Thursday evening, Swift and Kelce held a smaller gathering at the arena for around 100 people, sources said.
An SUV with tinted windows believed to be transporting Swift was photographed arriving at MSG around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
For both events, a strict no-phone policy was in place for everyone inside the venue, including guests, vendors and security personnel, according to sources.
Representatives for Swift or Kelce did not confirm any details about the events.
On Thursday, just hours before their first reported event at MSG, a representative for Swift confirmed to ABC News that she and Kelce had donated $26 million to charities both in New York City and across the United States.
The “Shake It Off” singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end announced their engagement last August in a social media post that included photos of Kelce’s flower-filled proposal and a close-up of Swift’s old-mine brilliant–cut diamond ring, which ABC News confirmed was custom-designed by Kelce and jeweler Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry in New York City.
The couple’s romance began in the summer of 2023, when Kelce revealed on his New Heights podcast that he’d unsuccessfully tried to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number during one of her Eras Tour concerts.
Swift later told TIME she found the gesture “metal as hell,” and the two started spending time together soon after.
By November 2023, Kelce confirmed their relationship in an interview with WSJ. Magazine, praising Swift’s ability to handle intense public scrutiny.
Swift, meanwhile, revealed in her December 2023 TIME Person of the Year interview that the couple had enjoyed private time together before going public.
“We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other,” she said at the time.
Throughout their relationship, the pair have been each other’s biggest supporters, with Swift attending Chiefs games, including Super Bowl LVIII and Super Bowl LIX, and Kelce cheering Swift on at numerous Eras Tour stops, even joining her onstage during her London show in June 2024.
