Veteran DWTS Pro Hints At Return To the Show After 7 Years

Maksim Chmerkovskiy has not totally ruled out a return to “Dancing With the Stars,” after previously saying he had no plans to return to the show.

The veteran pro dancer left the ABC  celebrity ballroom competition in 2017 after competing in 17 seasons and winning one mirrorball trophy with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis. Chmerkovskiy has repeatedly said he has no plans to return to “Dancing With the Stars.”

But in a July 2024 interview with Hello magazine, Chmerkovskiy, 44,  seemed to have changed his stance on a permanent leave from DWTS. When asked if he would like to return to the ballroom, he replied, “I mean, yeah. Why not? I would love to.”

Chmerkovskiy was quick to clarify that it doesn’t mean he would “love” to return but that he “wouldn’t mind” coming back to the show because his outlook today is different.  He added that he knows what’s best for his family, psyche, heart, and soul and not just “his pocket.”

“And so, from that standpoint, if the opportunity comes and it’s the right type of opportunity, and by that, I mean, there’s a reason and a need for me to be back, I would love the opportunity,” he admitted.

In an October 2023 interview with Heavy, Chmerkovskiy shut down thoughts of returning to the celebrity ballroom show.

“I’m a fan of the original version. The way it was,” he said at the time. “I don’t have plans to be part of the show. Having said that, I’m always part of the show. There’s a wife, there’s a brother. There’s a sister-in-law. I’m there with my kids, supporting our fam.”

Chmerkovskiy’s wife, Peta Murgatroyd, brother Val Chmerkovskiy,  and sister-in-law Jenna Johnson  are all pro dancers on “Dancing With the Stars.” Season 33 premieres on September 17 on ABC.

Maks Chmerkovskiy Previously Said He Grew Out of DWTS

ABC/Craig Sjodin

In 2023, Chmerkovskiy explained to the Blast why he decided to put “Dancing With the Stars” behind him—at least as a pro dancer. “First and foremost, as business side of things, I was on a contract that I extended a few times, but when it stopped being extended, it was a mutual decision,” the Ukrainian American dancer shared.

“The reality is that we just grew up,” he added. “You can’t expect Michael Jordan to continue playing even if you want to watch him do that, and I think it is a very similar [situation].”

He noted that he “felt like I needed to move on” because the show was “going through some changes and some transformations.”

But in the new interview with Hello, Chmerkovskiy said he feels the show has come full circle. “As someone who’s seen ‘Dancing with the Stars’ go through ups and downs literally and seeing the heydays and also the kind of the low days, I feel like ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is now, as of last season, has made a comeback,” he shared. “[It] used to be laughed at and talked about where celebrities go to die. …I do believe that ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is getting back to where it used to be where people were like, ‘No, I really do want to go there.’”

Maks Returned to the DWTS Ballroom For Len Goodman’s Tribute But He Has Not Competed on the Show Since Season 25

Heavy/Disney“Dancing With the Stars” dancers perform a tribute to Len Goodman.

While Chmerkovskiy left “Dancing With the Stars” as a pro dancer in 2017, he did return for season 32’s emotional tribute to late judge Len Goodman. The Emmy-nominated dance was choreographed by Chmerkovskiy’s brother and sister-in-law. In addition to Maks, fellow former pros Tony Dovolani, Kym Johnson-Herjavec, Edyta Śliwińska, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, Louis van Amstel, and Mark Ballas returned for the tribute dance.

Chmerkovskiy told Access Hollywood that the best part of returning to the show was working with his wife without the stress of being back full-time.

“It was amazing honestly…it felt correct it, felt like it was the right tribute,” the dad of three said of the dance. “[Working with Peta] was the best part you know. We were under so much stress in the past and we were, at the time when we were both on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ it felt like we also had our new baby and we also had a new life together and we also were like preoccupied with so many other things. Today it was, like, relaxed.  Mommy’s got a job, Papa has his own things to do, we’re both in the same ballroom.”