'Dancing With the Stars 18' Premiere Date Revealed, Maksim Chmerkovskiy Likely Returning

Credit: ABC

ABC has not only revealed the premiere date for the eighteenth season of Dancing With the Stars, the network has also confirmed that the series intends to bring back fan favorite Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee spoke up about Chmerkovskiy at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, saying that the dancer will be returning in some form. Last season, Chmerkovskiy served as a guest judge, filling in for Len Goodman.

“First of all, we thought Maks did a fabulous job with that,” said Lee, regarding the dancer's guest-judging stint, which earned rave reviews from fans and critics alike. It seems Lee recognizes what a potentially valuable asset Chmerkovskiy is to the franchise.

“We’re gonna continue working with Maks as we go into the future," Lee stated. “Nothing to announce now, but we will continue working with him.”

Lee also confirmed that Season 18 of Dancing with the Stars will premiere March 17 on ABC.

And that's not the only news, as Lee would go on to state that the show would be retaining its "one night a week" format, saying that the format change worked splendidly in Season 17.

“We really do think the one night focused it down well,” said Lee. “And it actually grew.”

As Lee explains, “We didn’t quite end the season — if you remember our finale wasn’t quite as high as it has been previously, but the season itself was higher. So we want to find a way to just turn that up a little bit. But we were very, very pleased to have it down to one night.”

So what do you think? Could the show benefit from having Maksim Chmerkovskiy around on a more regular basis? And did the show make the right move in cutting down to one night a week? Sound off in the comments!

Via: Access Hollywood