Reality Rumors

Lifetime is set to debut a competition reality series that pairs professional dancers with one of their parents, the U.S. cable television network said Tuesday.

“Dancing with the Stars” veteran and “Beverly Hills, 90210″ graduate Ian Ziering serves as the host of “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” which is scheduled to premiere Friday.

Choreographer/actor Cris Judd, Tony Award winner Ben Vereen and singer/actress Vitamin C have been named as judges on the eight-week-long competition show.

Viewers of the series will help determine via phone, text and online votes which young professional dancer and his or her parent will win $100,000 in cash and prizes.

Lifetime announced that it will premiere Mama Don’t Dance, a new Dancing with the Stars-like reality competition series that partners professional two-steppers with one of their novice parents, on Friday, February 29 at 9PM ET/PT.

“Your Mama Don’t Dance distinguishes itself from other dance competition shows because its point of view is truly unique,” said Lifetime president Susanne Daniels. “The relationships between the dancers and their parents will evolve during the eight weeks and it will be both heartwarming and heartbreaking — with a lot of twists and unexpected turns along the way.”

Professional dancers who auditioned for Your Mama Don’t Dance did so thinking they were trying out for a competition series called Dance Nation, with none of them aware what the show’s format would actually entail until it was revealed to them on Saturday at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theater.

Following the surprise twist — which will have five female professionals competing with their fathers and five male professionals competing with the mothers — each duo has less than a month to learn and rehearse new routines with the assistance of choreographers.

During each week of the competition, the two teams who received the lowest score from Your Mama Don’t Dance’s yet-to-be-announced judges will be placed on the chopping block. Home viewers will be able to vote via the phone, Internet or text messaging immediately following each episode, with the team on the chopping block who receives the least amount of viewer votes being sent packing.

Your Mama Don’t Dance’s live finale will air on April 18, with the three remaining teams competing in-front of the judges and home viewers one last time. The winning team will be announced following a live vote, and will receive $100,000 in cash and prizes.