Why Didn’t Maks Chmerkovskiy Join ‘DWTS’ This Season?
Why hasn’t Maks Chmerkovskiy ever returned to Dancing With The Stars?
The 43-year-old dancer last competed back in Season 25 when he partnered with Vanessa Lachey. The pair finished in 7th place out of 12 couples. After that, it appears that Maks chose to leave DWTS for good.
Over the years, he’s expressed interest in returning as a judge. However, it doesn’t seem like that will happen for Season 32. To this day, several of Maks’ family members compete on the show.
So why has he never returned? See what he had to say.
Maks Chmerkovskiy is exploring other adventures right now
Although Maks Chmerkovskiy is known to be a bit temperamental in the ballroom, he still has a massive fanbase. More than anything, they’d love for him to return to DWTS.
However, once again that didn’t happen. Now, Maks is admitting he’s moved on to another chapter in his life.
Maks is working on other projects at the moment and also loving fatherhood. He and his wife Peta Murgatroyd welcomed another son over the summer. On top of that, Maks and his younger brother Val worked on a show called SAVOR After Hours in northern California this year.
“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 dancer shared with The Blast. “The reality is that we just grew up. 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].”
Maks went on to discuss how major changes in production also fueled his decision to move on. Former host Tom Bergeron has also cited continuous changes as a reason not to return to the show in any capacity.
“Today, the show is kind of like full circle, and back to the format that I’m more fond of,” Maks continued. “The components like Alfonso [Ribeiro] taking over of what Tom Bergeron used to be. It was a huge moment in the show’s progression.”
He went on to say that he’s still a dancer, first and foremost. Maks genuinely enjoys cheering on his family members who compete on the show. He simply no longer wishes to compete on television.
There will still be plenty of Chmerkovskiys to see on DWTS
Dancing With The Stars has largely become a family affair for the Chmerkovskiys. Maks and his younger brother Val were incredibly popular with fans. They both went on to marry costars, Peta Murgatroyd and Jenna Johnson. Val, Peta, and Jenna are all competing in Season 32.
Although Maks loves watching his family compete, he believes they’re the reason fans want him to return to DWTS.
“I think that if I wasn’t married to Peta [Murgatroyd], and if my brother wasn’t Val [Chmerkovskiy], and [his wife] wasn’t Jenna [Johnson], I believe that we wouldn’t be having these conversations,” Maks continued. “I think that [the show] sort of moved on into others things and people would stop asking me about that, but I feel every year it’s a Peta, Val, Jenna thing and [then people ask] ‘are you also going to be there?’”
At this point, Maks says there are more Chmerkovskiys on the show than ever before. And he’s content to leave it there.
Dancing With The Stars Season 32 kicks off at 8 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, September 26. Be sure to tune in and see what happens this year!
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