QUICK TAKES - Feb. 10, 2009

Romantic relationships may be put to the test on the new season of “Dancing With the Stars,” with couples taking to the dance floor with and against each other.

Pop star Jewel and her husband, rodeo champion Ty Murray, will compete for bragging rights on the ABC series’ eighth season, which begins March 9, while country singer Chuck Wicks will take the floor with his girlfriend, two-time “Dancing With the Stars” champion Julianne Hough.

Professional dancers and series regulars Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, who are newly engaged, will be waltzing in the arms of others.

Other contestants will be Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, former football star Lawrence Taylor, Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle, rapper Lil’ Kim, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, actress Denise Richards, actor-comedian David Alan Grier, actor Gilles Marini, “Jackass” star Steve-O and Nancy O’Dell of “Access Hollywood.”