Guess Who's Back?!

With the premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” Season 18 less than a month away (March 17!), fans are buzzing about all the changes taking place. For one thing, longtime music director Harold Wheeler and his orchestra won’t be returning. And neither will co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet—she’ll be replaced by Fox Sports reporter and Season 11 second runner-up Erin Andrews.

This week brought us some more shocking news: After quitting two seasons ago, our favorite ballroom bad boy is returning to the show.

That’s right, guys, Maks is back.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy (ABC)

The details surrounding Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s departure from the show were somewhat hazy. The then 32-year-old pro admitted to wanting to take sometime for himself after eight years on the show, but rumors suggest there may have also been some other, more tense, reasoning (including an on-camera scuffle with judge Len Goodman).

But, you know, let bygones be bygones, right? MAKS IS BACK! And we’re absolutely swooning over it.

Twenty points if you made this connection (looking at you “DWTS” devotees): New co-host Erin Andrews was paired with Maks back when she took third place in Season 11. Here are the two performing their almost-perfect-scoring Argentine Tango:

It’ll be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out!

The Season 18 celebrity contestants will be announced this Tuesday, March 4, on “Good Morning America.” And who knows, maybe Maks will be paired with someone who can help him bring home his first mirror ball trophy. Fingers crossed!