Maksim Chmerkovskiy wants you to know he won’t be leaving ABC’s Dancing with the Stars just yet.
When Celebuzz caught up with the dancer at Entertainment Weekly’s pre-Emmy party, he confirmed his departure at the end of his current contract with us. “I won’t be leaving,” said Chmerkovskiy, “I think all of us are looking forward to moving on after our contracts our done. Our contract is pretty long. I enjoyed everything. But I think it is kind of silly to think we are going to stick around after 15/16 seasons of the show. I’m not going anywhere. I got Kirstie. I’ve got a new season coming up and I’m very excited about that.”
There you have it, the controversial DWTS star will be hanging up his dancing shoes after two more seasons.
What is the professional dancer excited about on the upcoming season?
“I just want to see the outcome,” says the 32-year-old. “I am a fan and I am just one of the viewers. There are no predictions and you don’t know what’s going to happen. I just want to get started.”
Chmerkovskiy’s girlfriend and fellow DTWS alum, Peta Murgatroyd added that she thinks the pressure is really on the pros for this season as opposed to the celebrities.
“We have got to come up with really good routines every week, you can’t just put together a mediocre routine. It’s like starting off in the semi-finals really. It’s going to be tough. Monday night is going to be interesting,” she says.
So is Chmerkovskiy watching out for any particular duo when the new season begins?
“We have 7 past winners. Pretty much everyone has been to the finals,” he said of his competition. “They all have proven themselves. They all became characters enough to be forces to be reckoned with. I think it’s anybody’s game.”
Chmerkovskiy will be re-teaming with Kirstie Alley for this All-Star edition.
You can watch Chmerkovskiy’s entire interview above.
Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars premieres Monday at 8 PM on ABC.
Who do you think will win the popular show this season? Sound off in the comments below!
To hear former ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant and ‘Shark Tank’ investor Mark Cuban’s thoughts on Chmerkovskiy’s exit from the show ( and what he thinks the appeal of ‘Shark Tank’ is, watch the video below!
