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Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Edyta Śliwińska joined the cast on season 1 and competed on 10 seasons before taking some time off. She’d return for one more season before leaving altogether.
On the February 5, 2024, episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Śliwińska explained why she — and her husband, Alec Mazo — decided not to return.
“One of the reasons that me and my husband left really early — and it’s not a criticism of the show, it’s just the nature of the business — there are so many things in [the] entertainment business that are out of your control,” she said. “Starting from the casting process. You have no say whether you’re going to be picked up or not,” Śliwińska continued.
She went on to say that she and her husband weren’t ever sure if they were going to be cast on the show, but they also had contracts that kept them from doing other work. This ended up becoming a problem for them. At the end of the day, when Mazo wasn’t asked to return, the couple knew it was time to exit.
Śliwińska did return to the show on season 32 to take part in the Len Goodman tribute. Her husband, however, who is no longer involved in the dance scene, did not.
Here’s what you need to know:
Fans Reacted to Edyta Śliwińska’s Comments on Reddit
After the podcast was posted, some fans took to Reddit to react to Śliwińska’s comments about leaving the show.
“Edyta is not only eloquent, but emotionally mature as well. I admire her tenacity for following her beliefs, leaving the show because she valued her marriage more than the fame,” one person said.
“It was interesting to gear more about why she left, and the whole Alec thing. I’m glad we have more context/answers,” another comment read.
“I always wondered what the real reason was for her quitting before S11, now we know that it’s because Alec wasn’t being asked back. Not really a huge surprise but good to finally know. I get why she made that decision,” a third Redditor added.
Edyta Śliwińska Said That She & Her Husband Wanted to Explore Other Things
At the end of the day, Śliwińska said that she and her husband wanted more out of their careers.
“I decided it’s time to move on with my life, pursue other projects and finish school. I’m grateful to the show but my life can’t be limited to DWTS,” Śliwińska wrote on Twitter in 2010, according to CBS News.
At the time, TMZ reported that Śliwińska chose to leave following a disagreement with producers. She addressed this on the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast.
“I never saw myself as just a dancer,” Śliwińska explained. “Me or my husband and we always tried to do different things,” she continued, adding that they got into acting and wanted to focus on their respective educations.
“As I mentioned, this business makes you very dependent. You are on the whim of the producers. We would literally get a call about whether we are on the show or not, [a] few days before the show starts,” she said. “So you’re hanging out there, doing your thing. You can’t commit to doing other things. You can’t plan for the future because you are waiting for this phone call from the producers,” she continued.
“I thought that’s really limiting,” she added. “And that’s why we quit. We wanted to be independent.”
She also said that she was swayed to leave the show when she was offered a spot as a pro and her husband wasn’t. “We wanted to work together,” she said.
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