A cryptic Tweet from Phil Hellmuth’s agent regarding the upcoming year has many in the poker world scurrying to figure out what the “Poker Brat’s” moves will be in 2011.
Brian Balsbaugh, the top man at Poker Royalty and the agent for the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, accelerated the speculation on Thursday with a chirp on Twitter. “If you think @Phil_Hellmuth is great TV, you’re gonna love 2011,” was the simple statement from Balsbaugh. This has led to speculation that Hellmuth may be stepping into more mainstream television programming than he has previously.
Hellmuth himself spurred the discussion when, on the same day as Balsbaugh’s announcement, he chimed in over Twitter with his own mysterious Tweet. “Amazing 24 hours for me,” the former UB.com pro stated on Thursday. “Multiple great things, but cannot Tweet about it yet… 1 cool thing: going to week long VIP parties at Super Bowl!”
Part of the speculation is that Hellmuth may land on one of the biggest reality shows on American television, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Hellmuth gushed about the possibility in December over his Twitter account: “OMG! Phil Hellmuth (me!) on ‘Dancing with the Stars!’ Outrageous! Might make a fool out of myself on worldwide television one more time.” If Hellmuth is headed to the dance floor to battle for the Disco Ball trophy, rumors around the television industry indicate that he may have a tougher time than he imagines.
Although ABC has not yet announced a start date for the 2011 version of the show, the list of potential competitors for “Dancing With The Stars” is daunting in both star power and dancing ability. Online television blogs, including Telewatcher.com and Sportales.com, have listed several celebrities who are and may be under consideration for the show. One of the names at the top of the list is actress Courtney Cox. The former “Friends” star is currently on the popular ABC sitcom “Cougar Town” and, if her taping has finished for the year, she would likely be available for the program.
Another person thought to be a member of the next “Dancing with the Stars” cast is comedian Tina Fey. The former “Saturday Night Live” head writer and current star of the Emmy winning comedy “30 Rock” could be stepping out of her comfort zone with such a move; it is not known whether her parent network, NBC, would allow her to perform on the show. It would be quite a score for ABC if it were able to get Fey on the cast.
Australian model Elle Macpherson is also rumored to be a member of the next “Dancing with the Stars” cast. Although best known for her modeling career, Macpherson has also made successful forays into acting (she hosts the British version of “America’s Next Top Model”) and business. Others who may be a part of the next cast include actors Vince Vaughn and Rob Lowe.
The producers of “Dancing With The Stars” have made it known that they would like to cast Lindsay Lohan in the next season, but there have been no replies from the Lohan camp. A website for the show is encouraging fans to nominate potential contestants, with teenybopper pop star Justin Bieber, soap star Colleen Zenk of “As the World Turns” and former World Wrestling Entertainment diva Maria Kanellis as the favorites.
The possibility of Hellmuth appearing on the reality show “Survivor” is, for the near future, nixed. The new season of “Survivor” will begin airing on February 16th and was taped in Nicaragua in August and September of last year. As the poker world saw when Jean-Robert Bellande appeared on the show, this would have required Hellmuth to miss WSOP Europe, which he did not do. It is possible – depending on the taping schedule of a late 2011 version of the show – that Hellmuth could take a “Survivor” shot.