Tonya Harding Joins 'Dancing With the Stars: Athletes'

Olympic skater Tonya Harding is preparing to return to the public spotlight—over two decades after her ex-husband and bodyguard hired a man to hit rival Nancy Kerrigan in the knee—with the new season of "Dancing With the Stars: Athletes." 

The 47-year-old is joining the all-athlete season of the dance reality show, along with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson, a source tells US Weekly.

USA Today also reports that Harding will be on the 25th season of "DWTS." ABC will announce the official line-up on "Good Morning America" on Friday, April 13.

In 1994, Harding was an accomplished figure skater. The two-time Olympian was also the 1991 U.S. champion and 1991 World Championship silver medalist. She was the first woman in the world to ever execute two triple Axels.

Just weeks before the 1994 Winter Olympics, Harding’s rival was beaten in her knee with a crowbar. Harding was believed to have helped orchestrate the attack on Kerrigan but she denied that. Her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, allegedly hired the culprit who took the crowbar to Kerrigan’s knee. Harding pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution in the attack, The New York Times reported. She got three years’ probation for the incident but was banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association as either a skater or coach, as The Washington Post reported. She believes that she was treated unfairly by the media as well.

“You all disrespected me and it hurt. I’m a human being and it hurt my heart,” she said in an interview with The New York Times in 2017. “I was a liar to everybody but still, 23 years later, finally everybody can just eat crow. That’s what I have to say.”

In 2017, her story hit the big screen in the biopic, "I, Tonya." Starring Margot Robbie, Allison Janney (who both received Golden Globe nominations for their performances), "I, Tonya" explores the backstory of Harding prior to the attack.

[Photo: Getty Images]