‘DWTS’ Pro Peta Murgatroyd Returning to Season 28

Peta Murgatroyd is returning to the Dancing With the Stars ballroom for Season 28 after two seasons away, she revealed to Us Weekly Tuesday.

“I’m overwhelmed with excitement,” Murgatroyd told the outlet of her return. “I’m excited and happy to be back with my family. Honestly, I just missed everybody so much! As a lot of people know, it’s such a close and tight-knit family, so I’m just happy to be back with everybody.”

Murgatroyd has competed in 11 seasons of the ABC dance competition show, winning Seasons 14 and 22 alongside Donald Driver and Nyle DiMarco, respectively. In July 2017, she married fellow DWTS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and has since given birth to their son Shai, now 2. The two took time off from the reality competition to start their family, but Murgatroyd couldn’t be happier to be back.

“I definitely wanted this to happen. I hoped that I could make this work for a couple of months now and was praying and hoping that it would all align,” she told the outlet. “It was the perfect time for my family. Maks has other things going on and Shai is well taken care of and it was just a good time for us.”

Chmerkovskiy, who has competed in 17 seasons of the show, winning Season 18 with partner Meryl Davis, will not be returning alongside his wife — for now.

“I’m sure he would consider it. I think it just has to line up with what he’s doing and what I’m doing and I feel like he still wants to dance,” Murgatroyd said. “He’s still fit and healthy!”

Returning to the ballroom without him won’t be the same, she admitted.

“I’m totally going to miss dancing with him. That’s a big thing in our lives. We love to dance together,” she said. “I think it’s that comfort level of having your best friend with you. I mean, he’s my everything. It definitely won’t be the same, but there are many people on the show who are like family to me, so it’s not like I’m going to be missing out on any love or kindness!”

The full cast of Dancing With the Stars Season 28 will be announced Wednesday on Good Morning America.

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