Maksim Chmerkovskiy Is Leaving ‘Dancing With The Stars’

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is hanging up his dancing shoes. The veteran dancer announced today that he would be leaving Dancing With The Stars next year when his contract is up.

Chmerkovskiy, who will be dancing with Kristie Alley during the DWTS All-Stars season, said:

“What else do I have to do there after 15 seasons? It makes total sense. The audience can’t expect for me to want to stick around, and the producers can’t expect for me to want to stick around.”

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Chmerkovskiy has been on the show since its second season. He’s never won the mirrorball but he was at the center of some of the show’s most talked about moments.

Dancing With the Stars fans were in disbelief after Chmerkovskiy made his announcement but the dancing star made it clear on Twitter that he was indeed leaving the show.

Chmerkovskiy linked to a story in the New York post and wrote:

“With nothing but love, gratitude and respect to all that played a part in that amazing aspect of my life.”

Chmerkovskiy didn’t give any details about his post-DWTS’s life but did say that he had secured a lead role in a “major Hollywood movie.”

Are you a fan of Maksim Chmerkovskiy? Are you sad that he’s leaving the show?