Maks Chmerkovskiy to leave 'Dancing with the Stars'

Maksim Chmerkovskiy will not return as a dancer on Dancing with the Stars.
The 34-year-old professional dancer has appeared on fourteen seasons of the reality competition series, and confirmed he is leaving the show Tuesday on The View.
"I'm done dancing [on DWTS]," he declared. "I feel like it's time." Chmerkovskiy said he didn't mean to "Lebron the announcement," and qualified he "loved the experience" on the program.
"When I came back to the show, it was not the same," he explained. "I was different, probably ... When I came back, I saw this amazing talent, [brother] Val [Chmerkovskiy] included ... I looked at it and thought they can do much more and better, I was taking up a huge spot."
Dancing with the Stars executive producer Rob Wade told E! News earlier this month he hopes Chmerkovskiy will return to the show in some capacity.
"I've known Maks for ten years now and he's a very good friend," Wade said. "I'm absolutely hoping Maks comes back to the show. I don't know whether it's going to be as a dancer. I think there's a number of things we can talk to him about and the way he'd be involved in the show. Maks will always be part of Dancing with the Stars in some way."
Chmerkovskiy won the competition for the first time in season eighteen with partner Meryl Davis. Season nineteen of Dancing with the Stars premieres September 19.