Maksim Chmerkovskiy Reveals He's Finally Returning to 'DWTS' After Being Sidelined for a Month
After being sidelined for four weeks, Maksim Chmerkovskiy is returning to Dancing With the Stars to dance alongside Heather Morris.
Since Chemerkovskiy suffered a calf injury near the beginning of the season, Morris has been paired up with DWTS troupe member Alan Bersten, and the pair have been knocking their routines out of the park.
While he hasn't been able to dance, Chemerkovskiy has remained closely involved, working with Morris and Bersten during rehearsals and choreographing many of their numbers -- including this week's Frozen-themed jazz routine for DWTS' Disney Week.
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Following their dance, Morris and Bernsten went backstage to talk with co-host Erin Andrews, and they were joined by Chmerkovskiy, who had nothing but praise for their performance.
"I thought that Heather did an amazing performance," he marveled. "I was looking forward to this [dance] the whole weekend and [Bersten] didn't let me down."
That being said, Chmerkovskiy announced that he had finally recovered enough to come back.
"Alan's officially fired," Chmerkovskiy joked before hugging the talented substitute pro. "I'm taking over as of tonight."
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For their Frozen jazz number, Chmerkovskiy wanted to create an original move for the routine that would wow the judges, so he came up with an extraordinary lift that Morris and Bersten had never done before.
"I'm doing a special lift and it's kind of something that I'm nervous about," Morris admitted in a pre-taped package. "So, fingers crossed."
During the dance, Morris and Bersten -- who were playing Anna and Kristoff, respectively -- gave a brilliant life to the dance and executed their lift perfectly.
However, the non-traditional jazz routine left the judges divided. Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman wanted more dance content while Julianne Hough and Bruno Toniloi praised the pair's energy and charisma. In the end, they earned a 34 out of 40.
It will be interesting to see how Morris and Chmerkovskiy rebuild their dance chemistry after not hitting the stage together since the show's premiere. For more on the pro's injury and absence from this season, check out the video below.
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