Maksim Chmerkovskiy Talks Of DWTS, His Future Retirement Plans, And More
Maks Chmerkovskiy tells the New York Post post that he has no plans of coming back to Dancing With The Stars after his contract expires at the end of next year. He says he plans to pursue acting and possibly a reality show with his brother, Val. He has also secured the lead in a major studio movie, which begins filming in January. Maks also talks of Kirstie Alley and how he is not a one sided personality. More below and at the link!
We may have had a couple of weeks last time that we cruised on popularity or fan appeal or whatever,” he says.
“But I am not really sure that is going to work for us this time. I am not sure people are going to vote for us just because it is us.”
Since joining the show in Season 2, Maks — who owns four dance studios in the NYC area — has become one of “Dancing’s” most polarizing personalities.
He famously fired an f-bomb backstage at judge Carrie Ann Inaba in 2011 and once suggested acid-tongued judge Len Goodman should retire.
In a recently published book, former partner Hope Solo even accused him of slapping her during rehearsals — which he has been instructed not to discuss.
“But I am not doing that ‘Maks thing’ anymore,” he says. “I don’t think I need to, and I don’t want to. It did what it did for me, but I want people to know that I am not a one-sided personality. I am a lot of fun to watch, even without constant drama.”
Sad! I hate to hear the long time pros talking of retiring, but, as Heidi and Court have warned us so many times in the past, it’s going to happen. It’s something we have to accept, but, it’s still so hard. 🙁 So, what movie do you think Maks is talking about?
ADDING: Tony and Melissa were on Access Hollywood today. Below is their reaction to the news of Maks is retiring….
This, of course, makes me sad. 🙁 I like having Maks on my TV for weeks on end. But that’s selfish. So I shall be very happy and follow him in whatever endeavors he chooses.
Same here Evaine. I feel sad about Derek who has said he’s planning to leave too. I’ll still love the show since I love dancing so much, but, I sure am going to miss those two.
Not happy about this news. I can see Henry replacing Derek (but now Louis is back there is a good chance he could get derek’s spot……hopefully not though) but Maks really was one of the pros that made me really get into the show. It was cool to see a pro who was tough and funny. Its so sad though. The beetr get tributes or some kind of surprise at the finale.
I’m curious about the movie, that’s pretty interesting. As I said in the other post, it doesn’t make me sad that he and Derek will be leaving. I think the show could use some fresh blood, and as a fan of many of the other pros, I think having two of the voting powerhouses gone will give me hope that some of the others can enjoy a little more success on the show. I know that can’t be guaranteed, of course, but it’s better than nothing.
I do wish them success and happiness in whatever they do, and I’m sure they both have great futures ahead of them.
Whilst i will miss seeing maks on dwts he is more than that show ! He is a wonderful dancer but when i have seen him present the ukrainian cube i thought he was really funny and a natural presenter 😉 i am interested to see what he could bring to the big screen ….the future i suspect will be very bright for him :)i wish him the very best of luck !
Vin, I see Henry replacing Derek too. I can see Sonny replacing Maks. There’s just something about him. Hmmmm….
Sonny is awesome but I was thinking about it and I remebered that Ted V was pretty tall too. As long as its not Sasha I’m good :). I would love it to be Jonathan but the odds of that aren’t great.
So happy and sad all at the same time to hear that Maks will be leaving the show. But it had to happen, so good that it’s happening on good terms for him. I’m fully expecting Derek to leave after this season or whenever his contract runs out, so that will mean the 2 most popular pros will be gone the end of this year/end of next season. But I’m happy for Maks. I don’t know if I’ll continue to watch the show once those 2 are gone (superficial, I know, but I really watch the show because of those 2 pros, and it would take an A-list celebrity to get me to continue watching after that). Plus as DWTS gets older, the show is dropping in the ratings, so who knows how much longer it will stay on the air in the US. Anyhoo, I wish both Maks and Derek the best in their new endeavors – they both have star quality, so I can see both of them doing well in the movie world in the right roles.
My ideal replacement for Maks would be one of these three though: Artem Chigvintsev (always have been a fan of his), Dymetry (not a bad choice since he is an incredible dancer but would he leave the vegas show? thats the question), and Ted V (he was Maks’ student I think and despite ebing a bit over confident I think he really is a great choice). Artem would be my first choice though.
I think the new troupe guy would be a perfect replacement for Maks.
They should replace Maks with someone tall, so you guys are right that it might well be either Dmitry or Teddy. Unless they don’t plan on having any tall female celebrity dancers again.
Sandra77, it’s not true about ratings dropping. If you haven’t read Heidi’s TV Ratings Watch posts from last season, you might find these (and the links and graphs posted in this series) very interesting and informative. Don’t believe everything you read from the media because they don’t look at all the numbers. I think DWTS will be around for a long time come:
https://www.puredwts.com/2012/04/28/dancing-with-the-stars-season-14-week-5-ratings-watch/
Sad to hear the old guard and fan favourites are leaving. I think Maks would be great in a romantic comedy!
I think a reality with him and Val could be interesting. Specially for their fans. Good luck for him on this big role on the screen. =]
Call me crazy, but why wouldn’t Val be considered the “new Maks”? Just because of height? While I agree that they do need another, taller male pro, I would argue that they probably brought Val on as Maks’ eventual replacement as the bad boy, edgy Russian male pro. They gotta keep up with the typecasting aspect of the pros 🙂
@vin – Artem was injured and had to withdraw from the Vegas show. And from what I understand, Artem’s split from CAI a few years back was so acrimonious that it would take Carrie Ann leaving the show before they would even consider bringing Artem on. Too much of a powderkeg.
And my vote for a new, tall, beefy male pro? Ryan DiLello. The dude is good looking, charming, and strikes me as the type who is a very patient teacher. And he deserves an upgrade from the Vegas show 🙂
Courtney, I am with you!!! I love Ryan, he is great, and tall and he can certainly dance!!!
@Courtney: I never thought of that. I guess he has to stick w SCD. Ryan is a great choice too.
I will miss both Maks and Derek. Isn’t the Vegas show over?
but the article (New York Post)said Maks contract with DWTS will end by the end of next year.So we have this season and other 2.Am i wronge?
ENews just released an article on this as well- according to them Maks will be on until the end of next year- he has 2 more seasons after the Allstars to finish…so technically he has 3 more seasons to go….
his rep confirmed to E!News that he has 3 cycles of the show (2 after all-stars season) left to compete.
3 more seasons? So, why is he talking about quitting now?
Long felt Maks exceeded his expiration date on the show. Don’t see him as much of a traditional actor, but he may surprise or still shoot to stardom on despite, so who knows.
In the meantime, wonder if Luca Baricchi would consider a stint on the show.
Artem is competing on SCD.
Maddy, #22
So people can feel bad for him for a long thime… =p
while sad that now both Derek and Maks are leaving the show, I can’t say I’m surprised. And though I will miss them both madly, I watched the show before these two showed up and will undoubtedly continue being a fan, and will look forward to getting to know new dancers. I already think that Val, Peta and Tristan have been great additions to this show and I’m confident TPTB can find other Pros willing and capable of stepping in. There’s bound to be an expiration date for all of these Pros – either because it’s time to pursue other things (which you can only do in limited fashion when contracted with DWTS) or you’re getting too long in the tooth. Better to depart for the former rather than the latter reason.
LOL Carlos and Maddy. My only problem with Maks leaving is that it’s at the end of 2013 instead of 2012. And a big yes to Ryan DeLello. Hotness without the nastiness.
@Marlene – It’s on hiatus, but is starting back up again in March of 2013. I’m assuming they’ll probably bring back a bunch of people from the first run.
Since Teddy V is managing one of the DWM studios, i don’t know if he would come back. When people have tweeted him about coming back he always says no, but then
again ,they were talking about him returning to the troupe and not as a pro.
It is definitely bittersweet to hear him talking about leaving. It sounds like he is becoming more self aware in regards to retiring his “Maks, the bad boy” image. I think he will do just fine with whatever else he chooses. Selfishly, I hope he will make some appearances in the LA Ukrainian community.
Check out the first post again. A new interview with Tony and Melissa with their reaction to Maks announcement of retiring has been added.
I agree with Courtney (#15) I’d like to see Ryan as a new pro. 🙂 However, I’m with the majority above and wanting Henry as a full time pro.
Quite honestly, I don’t think that anything Maks said about the pro dancers’ roles was negative in the least, yet both Kit and Regis Jr make it seem that way. And THAT, Melissa, is why there is the disconnect you’re talking about. And I guess it remains to be seen if Maks will be asked to dance in the remaining two seasons of his contract. Maybe they’ve come to a behind the scenes agreement? Who knows. 🙂
At times like this, Maks sounds like an old, dear friend of mine. She’s way too honest for her own good. I think that what Maks said is technically correct – the dancer’s job is to make the celeb look good; to “give them a push” in their career. He just managed to put it in a brutally honest way. That being said, I wish him well in whatever he decides to do.
I agree Evaine. There is so much sensationism on this. Many outlets are making it out like Maks has bitterly quit right now. *rolleyes* Anything for a headline.
They do this all the time with Maksim. They turn everything he says into a negative. That is probably one of the reasons why he has decided to leave.
Yeah, because of the way he expresses himself, Maks is the perfect foil for any reporter/outlet that wants to smarm-itize or sensationalize his comments. I appreciate Melissa’s response, as over the years I have come (I think) to “hear” Maks in the way he intends it and appreciate his directness – though I do believe he struggles with communication and regularly puts his foot in it.
But leave it to Kit and Billy, who never cease to offend. My fave “interview” I’ve seen ever of that pair was the one where they played ping pong with Martina and Tony for most of the allotted time. 🙂
I first learned of this news from Maks’ twitter, as he posted the link with NY post last night and prefaced it with an expression of his immense appreciation for DWTS and his experience there.
That billy is such an ass! (my opinion)
Sometimes less is more. Maks simply could have said he wanted to venture elsewhere and left the divaness out of his comments. Sometimes less is more.
This sounds like Maks is ready to leave the show and so he’s testing the waters to see if there are other opportunities out there for him. The real question will be what opportunities are available to him that will be better than DWTS (which is a pretty good gig for a dancer). Nothing wrong with testing the waters to see what other options are out there. Although, I’m not sure if Maks will find much better than he has on DWTS. We’ll see.
I think you’re spot on, John. It’s got to be scary to leave a pretty good gig like DWTS for the unknown, and I give Maks props for having the gusto to go for it. 🙂
Maks is signed to do a movie and has been doing the game show cube in ukraine the last 2 summers. Maks is a smart cookie he is not going to say everything he has lined up. Maks, Derek and Val IMO have that it factor…”presence” something that cannot be taught or bought!! It is bestowed on very few!
Just as with Derek, I wish Maks all the best in his future career moves. I think he might have waited until it was his last season to say he’s leaving, but that’s up to him.
I look forward to some new blood on the pro side of DWTS. Tristan and Peta have been good additions. I think Henry would be great as a height-replacement for Derek. They definitely need anther tall male pro, but I’m “no” on Artem. Setting aside the CAI issue, there’s something about him that doesn’t appeal to me.
Poor Tony! He was sure caught between a rock and hard place re: the about clip. He wasn’t sure what to say!
Tony actually said quite a bit. It’s good to know he’s not among the group of enablers.
Melissa’s facial expressions are priceless 🙂
Enablers, @katrina? Tony is Maks’ best friend, but I’m not sure what you mean by “enabler”?
Meggie, in this instance they’re people that excuse his behavior and he’s surrounded by them. I’m glad to hear that Tony isn’t among that crowd. I’m aware they’re good friends. Maks is lucky to call Tony a friend imo, although I might question the best friend label. We never see them together aside from on the show.
Well, based on your definition, I think Tony qualifies. This is the first time I’ve ever heard Tony not totally stand up for Maks. I think he was just caught off guard this time. I’ve actually heard Tony say that Maks is his best friend. He also runs one of their new studios. I think they are pretty tight.
@Meggie – I’d say they just have very different methods of working…which creates problems.
I didn’t think of that! Makes sense. Also would make it hard. Thanks, Courtney!