‘Dancing with the Stars’ 2017 Over For Maksim Chmerkovskiy? Due To Calf Injury?

Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be on Dancing with the Stars, but in the audience. Due to his calf injury, the champion dancer is reported to be out of the competition for several weeks. If he does not recover in time, he may not return to the 2017 edition at all.

This comes as a shock for DWTS fans, as Chmerkovskiy has been one of the top pro dancers in the show for the past few seasons now. His star partner Heather Morris will now dance with another pro dancer, Alan Bersten. The Ukrainian-American dancer will cheer for the actress, who is famous for her portrayal of Britney Spears in Glee.

Chmerkovskiy’s injury was caught on camera in real time. Later on, the news of his injury was announced on Good Morning America. The Dancing with the Stars veteran of 16 seasons was seen practicing with Morris. During the rehearsal, Chmerkovskiy’s was in the middle of a spin with the actress. He suddenly clutched his leg. He looked in severe pain, as he said later on that it felt like “something hit it.”

As for Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s return on Dancing With The Stars 2017, a Grade 1 calf injury takes around 2 to 4 weeks for recovery. A Grade 2 injury might take 4 to 8 weeks with good rehabilitation. However, a Grade 3 injury, which involves complete tearing or rupture of muscle fibers in the lower leg might take 3-4 months for recovery. According to Physio Works, surgery may be needed in some cases. It is unclear how severe Chmerkovskiy’s injury is.

In his 16 seasons on Dancing with the Stars, he finished as the runner-up on two occasions, earned the third-place twice and reached the final round five times. In the 2017 edition, the 37-year-old is dancing with Morris, who is criticized for taking part in the show as a star performer. The format of the show demands one “amateur” star dancer to pair up with a pro dancer and compete against others. Morris faces the criticism because she is a highly-trained dancer. She previously worked with celebrities like Beyonce. She has also been on So You Think You Can Dance.

Maks Chmerkovskiy, however, supports Morris’ decision to take part as a star performer on Dancing with the Stars‘ 2017 edition. He earlier said that it would be difficult for her anyway. There will be “non-stop, full-on” performances on the show, he argued.

“To say that we just have this massive advantage, I think so, but I don’t think we’re the only ones that could pull off beautiful, beautiful numbers,” Daily Mail Online quoted the seasoned pro dancer as saying. “I’m ready for us to be scrutinized a little different and judged a little different and rightfully so, we’ll do our best.”

Even though it is announced for the time being that Maksim will be out of the show in the second week, a Chermkovskiy source has revealed to PEOPLE magazine that the dancer won’t perform for a number of weeks. His fiancee Peta Murgatroyd will, however, continue to perform on Dancing with the Stars. The New Zealand-born Australian dancer, who has recently become the mother of Maks’ child, is partnered with The Bachelor star Nick Viall in the 2017 edition. She has already won the show twice. Chermkovskiy, on the other hand, has won it just once so far.

Morris, meanwhile, is ready to surprise the judges with her Week 2 performance.

“This week I get to do a little snippet of the type of dancing I do best in this week’s number,” the 30-year-old said. “I’m just really looking forward to seeing the judges faces when I bust out into my hip-hop moves!”

Dancing With The Stars airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

[Featured Image by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images]