At the beginning of 2017, rumors began to spread about a couple of Dancing with the Stars professional dancers who have decided not to return for the 24th season of the reality competition.
To fans' dismay, it was later announced that six time champion Derek Hough, Jenna Johnson, and Tony Dovolani, were the three of the pros that have decided to hang up their dancing shoes.
Hough went on to join the judges panel for another dance competition on NBC called World of Dance.
As for Dovolani, he released a statement confirming his departure, and explained that he is taking a break due to personal reasons and that he "might do another season."
"I wanted my fans to hear it from me first. I will not be on Dancing With the Stars this season, season 24," read the statement. "While I will miss the show and interacting with our wonderful audiences, both at home and in the ballroom, I will continue to focus on growing my Dance With Me USA studios and teaching. I will also be traveling across the country performing and making personal appearances."
The statement continued, "I will be hosting my second annual Tony Dovolani Foundation: Golf For Special Needs Children tournament on July 14. I am honored to be a member of the PGA Player and Coaching Development Committee and look forward to contributing to the future of professional golf."
Dovolani has since refrained from divulging the details of his departure from DWTS, until now. The dancer recently opened up about real reason behind his decision to leave the show, and it's not something we would've easily guessed.
Dovolani dropped the bombshell in a new interview with Hollywood Life, and apparently he left the show because he didn't want to "babysit" the reality celebrities that he's been paired with over the seasons.
"When I decided to quit nothing major happened, it was just a build up of things where I just said, "˜I didn't sign up for this,'" Dovolani told the publication. "For babysitting, maybe, a little bit. Some of these celebrities, or reality celebrities, I should say, they sometimes... they have an idea of what they think they are and who they are, and they didn't realize that I wasn't there to deal with them. I was there to teach them how to dance. So, when it becomes about other than teaching them how to dance, I want no part of it."
But, that's not all Dovolani had to get off his chest. He had more things to say about how he views reality stars.
"For me, it's like when it comes to reality stars, I mean the word itself explains it: reality star. Which means that you're an interesting individual, character maybe... like the villain or somebody that you like. For me, I respect talent. I respect hard work," he said.
Of course, Dovolani never mentioned any names, but we can't help but wonder if there's a reality star in particular that has ruined the DWTS experience for him. Over the years, he has been paired with many television stars including Kate Gosselin, Audrina Patridge, Wendy Williams, Real Housewives NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak-Biermann.
Still, Dovolani is still not opposed to giving the show another go.
"That door will never close for me because DWTS has meant so much to me and my family in general "” but now that, [I don't think there's a] spring show, and if they do it once a year it might be a possibility," he said. "For me, it was very difficult having three kids, for me to be away six months a year. If that ends up happening, and they are interested in me going back, I would be more than happy to do it."
Would you like to see Dovolani return to DWTS? Let us know!