Heavy/Getty A former DWTS pro says he won't ever return.
A “Dancing With the Stars” pro left the show after season 25 and has no plans to return.
In an exclusive interview with Heavy, Maksim Chmerkovskiy said that his time on the show is over — and that he has no plans to return in any capacity, not even as a judge.
He told Heavy he will not serve as a guest judge on season 32.
“This is a great show, great group of people. You know, look. If there’s a Mount Rushmore of that thing, ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ I’m probably a couple of spots on it. But I feel like we’ve written a book on how to do ‘Dancing With the Stars’ back in the day. And, you know, I’m that fan. I’m a fan of the original version. The way it was. The way everybody fell in love with the show,” Chmerkovskiy told Heavy.
“I don’t have plans to be part of the show. Having said that, I’m always part of the show,” he explained. “There’s a wife. There’s a brother. There’s a sister-in-law. I’m there with my kids, supporting our fam,” he added.
“I don’t have any plans for physical participation,” he said, adding that he thinks that the show has also moved on with him, and he “loves that.”
Chmerkovskiy isn’t done with reality television, however. He will be on season 2 of “The Traitors,” which is expected to stream on Peacock in 2024.
Here’s what you need to know:
Maks Chmerkovskiy Says DWTS ‘Has Come Full Circle’
Chmerkovskiy talked with Heavy about some of the changes the show has gone through in recent years and said he’s happy to see it on the right path heading into the future.
“I just want that. I want the show to remain. I want it to go on. Continue, move on, all of that. I just don’t want it to evolve into something that it’s not. And I think over the last some seasons, there were these type of attempts. What I love now is that it’s coming back to the old days of original content. The way it was meant to be, where it’s about celebrities and their partners having this journey and this experience and so forth,” Chmerkovskiy continued.
“So, having said that, I gotta go. I moved on. The show is back to its sort of heyday; the production, the people behind it have returned. You know, I think that it has come full circle and season 32 is a big number for any project from television, let alone prime time,” he added.
Maks Chmerkovskiy Won 1 Mirrorball Trophy Before He Left ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Chmerkovskiy was a part of 17 seasons of “Dancing With the Stars,” winning the Mirrorball Trophy with his season 18 partner, Olympic figure skater Meryl Davis.
Chmerkovskiy appeared as a guest judge on a handful of seasons and previously showed an interest in joining the judges panel on a regular basis.
“I would love to do that gig. That’s my thing. That’s my medium [and] that’s what I know. I know exactly what I am looking at,” he told MassLive in April 2018.
“I know exactly what I want it to be and exactly how to influence someone to do better in that genre. That’s what a judge should do, in addition to adding to the production. If that’s in my future, I would gladly accept it. If not, there are other opportunities. We are always moving forward,” he added.
In 2021, he said he’s be interested in hosting the show in an interview with Us Weekly.
“I’d love to host. I’d fill any shoes on that show. I wish that I would’ve had that understanding when I first got to the show, we had a different process because I honestly had no examples of anything like this in front of me to be like, ‘Oh, that’s what it’s like.’ I personally would love an opportunity to step into any shoes on the production side or in front of camera. I don’t really necessarily have the passion of leading someone through this incredibly grueling process of three months of getting to the end. I may not have that, but I do have the passion of contributing to dancing, being on television and sticking around,” he said.
Now, however, Chmerkovskiy says he’s more than happy cheering on his family from the audience.
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