Maksim Chmerkovskiy has reportedly accelerated his plans to leave Dancing with the Stars.
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Chmerkovskiy "spoke with producers a few days ago and informed them that he wouldn't be returning for the upcoming season," according to TMZ.
Dancing with the Stars' sixteenth season will premiere March 18 and the competition's cast will be officially announced by ABC on Tuesday.
Last fall, Chmerkovskiy had announced he was planning to leave Dancing with the Stars when his current contract expired after the show's seventeenth season.
"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," Chmerkovskiy told The New York Post before the premiere of last fall's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars edition.
"At [age] 32, I am at what-about-me time," he added. "I am not thinking that with me leaving, the show will go off the air or anything," he explained. Like my dad said, 'There are no irreplaceable people.' I wish them the next 50 years of success. But I have to do something else. I need to move on for me.'"
According to TMZ, Chmerkovskiy -- who starred (unsuccessfully, love-wise) in an Ukrainian edition of The Bachelor in 2010 and also hosts The Cube, a Ukrainian game show -- wants to stay in the entertainment business and is currently pursuing movie and television projects.
Last fall, The Post reported Chmerkovskiy was planning to pursue an acting career which would begin with a lead role in an unidentified major studio movie that was scheduled to begin filming last month.
Chmerkovskiy's younger brother Val Chmerkovskiy will return for Dancing with the Stars' sixteenth edition, according to TMZ. He joined the show during its thirteenth season and is reportedly currently dating Kelly Monaco, his celebrity partner from last fall's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
