Another popular professional reportedly won't be returning to the ballroom.
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Karina Smirnoff will not compete on Dancing with the Stars' upcoming tenth season as a professional partner, E! News reported Thursday.
Despite her absence in the competition, a source told E! News that Smirnoff will continue working on the show "behind the scenes" by "helping with choreography."
"She's always been choreographing for the show," another source told E! News. "She's a big part of the result shows. She's like family there."
While Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Cheryl Burke, Derek Hough, Edyta Sliwinska and Mark Ballas have all stated in recent days that they are returning to Dancing with the Stars, Jonathan Roberts and Lacey Schwimmer said they will not.
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The absence of several familiar professionals is the result of a cast that will feature 11 celebrity participants, according to E! News, which is fewer than the 16 couples that competed on last fall's ninth season -- the most ever for the show -- or the 13 that participated in the show's prior two editions.
"It wasn't easy," a source told E! News about which professional partners would be returning. "Producers cut people based on the celebrities and who they'd be a good match with."
A Dancing with the Stars representative declined comment when contacted by E! News.
ABC will formally reveal Dancing with the Stars tenth-season cast throughout its broadcast of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love's finale on Monday, March 1.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio