Say it ain’t so! Longtime Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy has said that season 30 may be his last, but his fellow cast members hope that’s not the case.
After finishing season 30 in eighth place with his partner, Olivia Jade Giannulli, the Ukrainian dancer said that he was thinking about moving on to other projects.
“I’ve always been very clear about coming back on the show. I love the show. I love being on it. I am so grateful for the opportunity. Is this my last season? Probably,” he told Entertainment Tonight in November 2021. “I have no regrets about my tenure on the show. I have no regrets about the season. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to end it with.”
Several months earlier, the U.S. National Latin Dance champion exclusively told Us Weekly that he was satisfied with his position on the show, which premiered in June 2005. “I like the role that I’m in,” he said in July 2021. “I like what I’m doing. I’m about to host 19 cities on a tour on my own terms.”
He acknowledged that his work with DWTS was hard, but at the time, he said that the difficulties were just a reminder that he’s living his dream. “We have 12-hour days where my whole body’s exhausted,” he explained. “I’m exhausted, and I love every single ache and just every single part of it. That’s when I realized, I truly am in Zen. This is what I meant to do. This is what I love to do.”
The dance pro’s older brother, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, officially left the show in April 2018 after finishing season 25 in seventh place with partner Vanessa Lachey. “Listen, I love the show, but I have other interests at the moment. I would have loved to judge and transition into that, but it’s not my call,” he told MassLive at the time. “I just don’t think I can do the show as a professional dancer at 100 percent and give it my all anymore. I am at a different point in my life.”
The former Broadway star welcomed his first child with wife Peta Murgatroyd in January 2017. “I think I’m just going to be the sideline mascot bringing babies to see their parents do their thing,” Maks told Us in May 2020, referencing his future with DWTS. “I’ll be that person.”
Val, for his part, has been married to fellow DWTS pro Jenna Johnson since April 2019. They don’t yet have any children, but Johnson previously told Us that the duo are definitely considering it. “I want kids,” the Utah native said in September 2020. “I want babies. Val wants babies very badly. We definitely have spoken about it. That’s our future. That’s what we want when that’s gonna happen.”
Keep scrolling to see everything the DWTS cast has said about Val potentially leaving the show:
During a November 2021 appearance on "The Bellas Podcast," Val hinted that he wants to try other things, but he didn't totally rule out a return to DWTS. "I’m going to promote dance and whether it’s at Dance With Me or a local dance studio, go and dance. That’s why I’m passionate about the show, whether the show moves on with me or without me, which I’m not saying it’s going to move on without me,” he said. “I’m saying I love the show, genuinely, but I want to see it [continue] for a long time. It’s good for dance, it’s good for my passion, it’s good for my business. It’s good for life! It’s a place that gave Olivia Jade a chance to flip the narrative. It’s a place that’s a lot of fun and does a lot of magical things very randomly, completely out of the blue." He also teased a few possibilities of what he might do instead of DWTS, explaining that he always wants to "champion" the benefits of ballroom dance. "That’s what I'm going to do in many different ways — whether it’s writing a script about it, whether it’s going and teaching at our studios, whether it’s going on convention [tours] and teaching kids around the country, I’m just going to continue to preach the gospel of dance," he said. Rob Latour/Shutterstock
The Dance Moms alum isn't sure Val's DWTS career is over, no matter what he says. “I think that this show is very intense sometimes. It’s seven days a week, and sometimes, you know, you want to see what else is out there,” she told Us in November 2021, referencing the importance of her own past breaks from the show. “That was the best thing to do, because I came back even more motivated and more inspired than ever. And if that’s what [Val] needs, so be it, but I’m sure he’ll be back.” Invision/AP/Shutterstock
In November 2021, Val's wife said that she would respect his choice if he decides to leave, but she hopes he'll come back. "I think that he is the best male dancer on the show, and I can say that very confidently and proudly. I think that there is a lot more that we haven't seen from him that I would love to see," she told ET at the time. "I will support him no matter what. And I think it will be fun to see him try out new things that he wants to do. He's the most artistic person. I'd love to see him act, direct, pursue music, but yeah, we'll see. I really hope it's not because he's so good at dancing." AFF-USA/Shutterstock
"I didn't even know that," Slater exclusively told Us when asked about Val's exit plans in November 2021. "I haven't heard that. ... I can't imagine him not coming back. I don't know. I'll have to ask him. Maybe he's just going on tour. I'm not sure, but he's such a staple to the show. Val's done it for however long I've been on the show ... so I don't know what the show's like without Val." MediaPunch/Shutterstock
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