'Dancing with the Stars' to feature Maksim Chmerkovskiy as guest judge during "Switch-Up Week"

Dancing with the Stars will soon have Maksim Chmerkovskiy, the "badboy of the ballroom," back.


Maksim announced on Monday's Good Morning America broadcast he'll be serving as a guest judge on the currently-airing 22nd season of Dancing with the Stars.

"I don't know why, but for whatever reason, they let me back in the ballroom," Maksim, 36, said on GMA.

"So next week I'll be sitting behind the desk next to [Len Goodman] and there will be two of us dishing out criticism at everybody. So, yeah, I'm going to be judging the Switch-Up Week."

During the show's Switch-Up Week, each celebrity dances a routine with a temporary new pro partner. The original DWTS celebrity and professional pairings then resume the following week.


"Halfway through the season, you get comfortable with your partner and now you have to go and [perform] with somebody else. It's a little strange because you don't know how to behave yourself," Maksim explained.

"[As a pro partner], do you do better? Do you maybe not do so good because this is your competition? I don't know, but I feel like everyone just has fun."

Maksim has close ties to the Dancing with the Stars cast. When he sits on the panel next to Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, he'll be forced to judge his own brother Val Chmerkovskiy and fiancee Peta Murgatroyd.

Val is paired with GMA meteorologist Ginger Zee this season, while Murgatroyd is partnered with America's Next Top Model winner Nyle DiMarco. Maksim insists, however, there won't be any favoritism.

"We share a household for the time being but, you know, it's funny because they go to their jobs and I do my thing. We don't really talk about these things," Maksim said. "When they ask me a question and want advice, I certainly give it, but I kind of, like, stay in back."


"Sometimes, I feel like they look at me like I'm an old man in the room," he joked. "Like, 'Okay, you've done it so long ago and this is this new Dancing With the Stars.' So, you know, we'll see what happens next week when I get to put up a paddle."

Maksim left the reality dancing competition in 2014 after finally winning the title with Meryl Davis after 14 seasons.

The next Dancing with the Stars episode airs Monday night at 8PM ET/PT on ABC and will feature the theme "Disney Night."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski