Olympic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez to Appear on 'Dancing With the Stars'

Old Bridge, NJ - World, you haven't seen the last of Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Laurie Hernandez.

Laurie, who was born in New Brunswick and currently lives in Old Bridge, has been announced as the latest cast member of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars’" 23rd season. Laurie will join fellow Olympian Ryan Lochte on "Dancing with the Stars" this upcoming season. “I’m so excited! I can’t wait to do the jive,” Hernandez, 16, told PEOPLE magazine. She said she and her Dad used to watch the show all the time back in Old Bridge. “My dad and I love to watch the show together. He used to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘You’re gonna be on there one day,’ ” she recalls. “I would just tell him, ‘Oh, stop. You’re being silly.’ Now he’s like, ‘I told you!’ He’s so excited.”

Laurie was recently celebrated with a massive homecoming parade in Old Bridge just this past Saturday. Her older brother famously promised he would take her to WaWa to celebrate her gold medal win.

Who else was cast?

That would be Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas and a former Republican presidential candidate, 90s rapper Vanilla Ice, Amber Rose, "Brady Bunch” star Maureen McCormick and Babyface, the singer. Laurie will be paired with Val Chmerkovskiy and Lochte will be dancing with Cheryl Burke.

"I’m definitely really excited. This is completely new for me," Lochte, 32, told "Good Morning America." "I think it’s time for me to hang up the Speedo and put on my dancing shoes and get in that ballroom.

"I’m going to treat this kind of like going into the Olympics," he added. "You train for so long and you have that one shot to put it all out there, and I think that’s what I’m going to do."

Mark your calendars: Dancing With the Stars airs Monday, Sept. 12 on ABC.

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