The "Dancing with the Stars" season 16 celebrity contestants and their pro partners were announced at a live event Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, and noticeably missing from the roster of pro-dancers is outspoken Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
The cast was announced on "Good Morning America," and some of the celebrities include country music legend Wynonna Judd, former "Idol" finalist Kellie Pickler, reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump and NFL star Jacoby Jones. Comedians D.L. Hughley and Andy Dick, as well as "General Hospital" star Ingo Rademacher, and Disney star Zendaya Coleman will be joining the reality dancing competition.
The new season of "Dancing with the Stars" is slated to debut with a two-hour premiere on Monday, March 18 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ABC.
Meanwhile, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who has competed in 13 of the past 15 season but never won, released a statement about sitting out the current competition, which begins March 18.
"I just want to set the record straight to all of my amazing fans that I will unfortunately not be returning for this season of Dancing with the Stars," he said in the statement, according to People magazine.
"I've been a pro dancer on the show for about seven years now and am eager to explore other opportunities that have been made possible because of Dancing with the Stars. I'm going to take this time to dive into producing and acting, while fulfilling my sponsorship obligations.
