Georgia celebrity chef Paula Deen could try tap dancing her way back into good graces with an appearance on “Dancing With The Stars,” some media outlets are suggesting.
Deen, who has a loyal following in Georgia and across the country, has lost multiple sponsorships since she admitted past use of a racial slur.
ABC, which airs “Dancing With The Stars,” has refused to confirm reports that Deen could make an appearance on the show.
“We don’t comment on casting until we officially announce,” an ABC official told The Huffington Post. The show has showcased other polarizing figures, including Kate Gosselin and Bistol Palin.
After her “Today” interview with Matt Lauer didn’t help quiet the controversy, the disgraced former Food Network star hired Judy Smith, the woman who inspired “Scandal’s” Olivia Pope.
This isn’t the first time Deen has been rumored to be asked to join the “Dancing With The Stars” cast.
Before Season 14 kicked off in early 2012, ABC reportedly asked Deen, who had just announced that she had Type 2 diabetes, to put on her dancing shoes.
“Producers love Paula’s likability and think it would guarantee she’d be around for a couple weeks, regardless,” an insider told HollywoodLife.com at the time.
In 2010, Deen, said she had been asked to be on the show, but turned them down.
“Fat girls don’t look good sweating. I’ve got catfish arms … And I’ve got — is that a muffin top right there?” Deen was quoted as saying at the time.
On Friday, Ballantine Books, the publisher of “Paula Deen’s New Testament,” announced that it was dropping the cookbook from its fall release lineup.
