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Maksim Chmerkovskiy to Return to Dancing With the Stars for Season 18

Maksim Chmerkovskiy attends an event on November 24, 2013
Maksim Chmerkovskiy will return to Dancing With the Stars for season 18, sources confirm to Us Weekly.

Maks is back! In the latest shakeup related to ABC's Dancing With the Stars, show sources tell Us Weekly that Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be returning to season 18 of the hit reality competition show after a 2-season break.

Related: PHOTOS: Who has Maks hooked up with on DWTS?

Chmerkovskiy, 34, will return once again as a dancing pro, making this his 15th season in the role. The veteran dancer left the reality show back in 2012 after his contract had expired on what was believed to have been tense terms. "Essentially, 80 percent of our job is to give somebody another push in their career," he told the New York Post of his departure. "I loved doing it. But to be honest with you, at 32, I am at what-about-me time."

Related: PHOTOS: Jaw-dropping DWTS makeovers

During his hiatus from DWTS, the Ukrainian-born performer pursued a career in acting, appearing on ABC soap General Hospital for a brief three-episode stint, while filming two movies.

While the exact details of his contract remain unknown, Chmerkovskiy was photographed Wednesday, Feb. 26, leaving a meeting with DWTS executives, where an insider tells Us the deal was arranged. His return to the show comes after much upheaval. In early February, producers fired its longtime music director Harold Wheeler and his orchestra.

Related: PHOTOS: Maks' DWTS feud from 2011

And on Saturday, Feb. 22, Brooke Burke-Charvet was fired from Dancing With the Stars after eight seasons as cohost. "Change is positive," Burke-Charvet wrote shortly after DWTS' executive producer Conrad Green confirmed her departure. "I loved my time in the ballroom & I'll love my next chapter too."

Most interesting to watch in the upcoming season, however, will be Chmerkovskiy's dynamics with newly-confirmed cohost Erin Andrews. The Fox Sports sideline reporter placed third in season 11 of DWTS with Chmerkovskiy as her partner. "I am so curious to hear how he feels about Erin Andrews hosting," one source tells Us.

Related: PHOTOS: Before they were on DWTS

Chmerkovskiy's rep did not respond to calls for comment.

The celebrity contestants will be announced on Tuesday, Mar. 4, on Good Morning America.

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