Maksim Chmerkovskiy to return to 'Dancing with the Stars' for Season 18

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Maksim Chmerkovskiy is returning to Dancing With the Stars after a two-season hiatus.

The 34-year-old professional dancer left the show after 15 seasons in 2012 when his contract expired.

"Essentially, 80 percent of our job is to give somebody another push in their career," he told the New York Post via Us Weekly at the time. "I loved doing it. But to be honest with you, at 32, I am at what-about-me time."

Chmerkovskiy pursued a career in acting -- he guest starred in three episodes of ABC's General Hospital and filmed two movies -- and a relationship with Kate Upton during his time away from the show, but he's now ready to return for the competition's 18th season.

Chmerkovskiy's comeback comes days after the show's executive producer, Conrad Green, confirmed that Brooke Burke-Charvet had been let go -- she'll be replaced by Erin Andrews -- and news that longtime music director Harold Wheeler and his orchestra had been fired.

Chmerkovskiy was Andrews' partner in season 11 of DWTS, in which they placed third.

The details of the dancer's contract remain unknown.

[Us Weekly]