Dancing With the Stars Season 33 is getting down to the final couples on the 2024 TV schedule, and it’s never too early to start wondering who will be part of Season 34. The milestone 500th episode this week brought out some fan-favorite pros, both in the audience and on the ballroom floor, and that included Artem Chigvintsev. The dancer left the series ahead of the current season following his arrest for alleged domestic violence. Now, his lawyer reportedly has an update regarding his future on the long-running dance competition.
Chigvintsev was arrested in late August on accusations of domestic violence reportedly involving his wife Nikki Garcia, who filed for divorce two weeks after the altercation. Not long after, it was revealed that he would not be returning for Season 33 of DWTS. He did, however, make a brief return to the ballroom this week. He was in the audience for the 500th episode with fellow former pro Peta Murgatroyd, and she shared a picture of them on her Instagram Story, via TMZ’s TikTok page.
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With Chigvintsev still close to at least some of the pros and returning to the show, even if it was in the audience, what does this mean for his DWTS future? His attorney, Ilona Antonyan, reportedly told TMZ that while producers have yet to reach out to him about joining for Season 34, he'd "love" to come back if the show is "open to it."
Antonyan also apparently shared that her client is “still on great terms” with the producers. While he didn’t appear in the opening number, which involved former pro Sharna Burgess, an executive producer reportedly “personally invited” Chigvintsev to sit in the studio audience for the milestone episode.
As of now, Artem Chigvintsev is working in construction, but Ilona Antonyan reportedly claimed that “dancing will always be Artem’s true passion, and he hopes to keep at it for life.”
Meanwhile, a court date for the divorce has been set for December 6. In legal documents filed on October 31 and obtained by the Daily Mail, the dancer alleged he was not the aggressor in his relationship with Nikki Garcia, after she reported in the original filing that her husband tackled her and pinned her to the ground during an argument.
Usually, the cast for the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars isn’t fully announced until a few weeks before the premiere. Additionally, pros usually don’t know if they'll be asked back until around the same time, so if Chigvintsev were to join the Season 34 cast, he probably won’t know until right before the season starts.
That being said, a lot can change between now and then, especially with the dancer's court date coming up. Unfortunately, as of right now, there’s no way of knowing just what will happen and what pros will be returning or leaving when the new season of Dancing With the Stars rolls around next year, so fans will just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, DWTS fans can catch the semi-finals for Season 33 on Tuesday, November 19 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription, with the finals set to air the following week.