The Ukrainian-American ballroom maverick gained a reputation as a spitfire across his 17 seasons competing on the cutthroat competition series.

Former DWTS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy explains why he wouldn’t return to the ballroom

The Ukrainian-American ballroom maverick gained a reputation as a spitfire across his 17 seasons competing on the cutthroat competition series.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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December 10, 2025 9:54 p.m. ET

Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Credit:

ABC/CRAIG SJODIN

- *Former DWTS *pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy says he wouldn't return to the show if given the opportunity.

- "I think the boat has sailed. I think my comeback is in the distant past," he told *Access Hollywood *in an interview alongside wife and fellow former pro Peta Murgatroyd.

- Chmerkovskiy cited his and Murgatroyd's three sons, other ventures he's pursuing, and the new demands to create social media content as reasons for his reluctance.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is one of the most legendary pros in *Dancing With the Stars* history. But when he left the show after season 25, he left for good.

"I think the boat has sailed. I think my comeback is in the distant past," he reflected in a Wednesday interview with *Access Hollywood *opposite his wife and fellow former *DWTS *pro, Peta Murgatroyd.

To Chmerkovskiy, whose brother Valentin is still tearing up the ballroom as a pro partner, the question is not "can I do it," but *would *he do it.**

Maksim Chmerkovskiy on 'Dancing With the Stars'.

ABC/Kelsey McNeal

"I'm looking forward to so much more dancing out of my body," he continued. "I'm in maintenance every day for the last 25 years. I don't see where that's going to go, and I'm looking forward to creative processes. [But] I also think *Dancing With the Stars* is a moving entity, and it just needs to move. And we all just moved a little bit different directions."

To clarify, Chmerkovskiy is not "saying that I wouldn't want to. I just don't think there would be space for me, especially in the format that it is today. I can't fathom doing so much social media, and without it, how do you win?"

Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd married in 2017, and over the following seven years, had three sons together. It's also for Shai Aleksander, Rio John, and Milan Maksim's sake that he expresses reluctance over the idea of a *DWTS *return. "With the kids, it's so hard. It's very tough," he explained.**

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Chmerkovskiy is rightly seen as one of the *DWTS *OGs, in spite of the fact that he joined the professional cast in season 2, not season 1. The freshman class that season, which premiered in 2006, included three future titans of the show — Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, and Cheryl Burke, who share four wins between them.

His departure after season 25 wasn't altogether surprising considering his long tenure of 17 seasons competing as a pro. But Chmerkovskiy had gained such a reputation for his quick wit and lack of filter that many fans struggled to imagine what *DWTS *would be like without him.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd.

Disney/Eric McCandless

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Eight years later, and like Burke, Chmerkovskiy remains as prominent as ever in the discourse surrounding the series, thanks to their sporadic returns to guest judge the show, and respective podcasts breaking down the new seasons.

The casting of new pro Jan Ravnik for the recent season 34 occasioned a classic Maks-ism that harkened back to his time on the show. Chmerkovskiy got into loggerheads with the former backup dancer for Taylor Swift after accusing him of having "zero foundation" or "technique" with ballroom fundamentals. But eventually he relented, apologizing directly to Ravnik and hoping the two "might even be friends."****

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