Maksim Chmerkovskiy is returning to Dancing With The Stars as a professional dancer for the show's upcoming 18th season.
Us Weekly reports how Chmerkovskiy will return to the show after taking a break for two seasons. Chmerkovskiy left the show back in 2012 when his contract expired. During that time Chmerkovskiy wanted to focus on himself rather than helping a celebrity get back in the spotlight by being on Dancing With The Stars. While, Chmerkovskiy was away from Dancing With The Stars he made an appearance on three episodes of the soap opera General Hospital and he filmed two movies. Chmerkovskiy's return comes on the heels of the departures of band leader Harold Wheeler and co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet, who were both recently fired. Burke-Charvet, is being replaced by Erin Andrews, who was Chmerkovskiy's celebrity partner on season 11 of Dancing With The Stars.
E! Online exclusively broke the news of Chmerkovskiy's return and they are also revealing that Derek Hough will be back for the upcoming 18th season as well. The 18th season of Dancing With The Stars premieres on March 17th and some of the confirmed celebrities who will be participants are NeNe Leakes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and former Full House star Candace Cameron-Bure. The full cast of participants will be announced on Good Morning America on March 4.
Photo courtesy of ABC