Sharna Burgess Reveals Why She’s Skipping ‘DWTS: Juniors’

Dancing With the Stars: Juniors premieres in October, and fans will be able to see several of their ballroom favorites on the series as judges and mentors. Unfortunately for fans, one pro that won’t be stopping by the junior edition is Sharna Burgess, who told Entertainment Tonight that she had a simple reason for skipping the series.

“I decided not to do the junior season because I wanted to really concentrate on building on this part of my life,” Burgess said. “This was the first time I’ve had time to do that. Between seasons and tours and everything else, it’s been difficult to dedicate [time to anything else].”

“And also, I took some me time,” she added. “I went on a retreat, I went on a vacation. All these incredible things to feed the soul that I’ve needed for so long, so it was like a reset. It’s been seven really busy years and I just needed a little me time and do a little something for myself so I can get straight back into it.”

Despite her absence, Burgess called the upcoming series “honestly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

The pro added that she will be back for the next season of DWTS.

“This next season, I just hope to really be creative and refreshed. I’ve had some amazing time off and I really can’t wait to come back,” she shared. “I’m not ready to leave my family or ready to talk about what the future holds for me with them and where else I can grow within that family with them because I am not ready to leave that.”

Dancing With the Stars: Juniors will see pint-sized pros team up with mini-celebrities to capture their very own trophy, and they’ll get some help from mentors including DWTS pros Witney Carson, Sasha Farber, Gleb Savchenko, Lindsay Arnold, Cheryl Burke and more.

The show will be hosted by Frankie Muniz and Jordan Fisher, who have both competed on the grownup version of DWTS on Season 25, during which Fisher took home the Mirror Ball Trophy.

Judges include DWTS‘ athletes season winner Adam Rippon, choreographer Mandy Moore and Val Chmerkovskiy, who has earned two Mirror Ball trophies during his time on the show.

While the contestants haven’t been confirmed, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo fame and Black-ish star Miles Brown have been rumored to be joining the show along with Sophia Pippen, daughter of Scottie and Larsa Pippen.

Dancing With the Stars: Juniors premieres Oct. 7 on ABC.

Photo Credit: Getty / Bruce Glikas