When the Season 27 cast ofDancing With the Stars was announced earlier this year, fans were sad to learn that beloved pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy wasn’t returning to the long-running show. And, in a new interview, the 38-year-old revealed he has no plans to appear on DWTS in the future now that he’s a dad to one-year-old son Shai Chmerkovskiy with his wife Peta Murgatroyd.

“I’m a dad, I’m a husband,” he said while recently appearing on The Real about wanting to spend more time with Peta, 32, and Shai. “Your chemistry changes when you have a child, things look different, they seem different.”

Maksim Chmerkovskiy Dancing With the Stars
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Maksim jokingly added that his fans won’t miss him on the show because his younger brother, Val Chmerkovskiy, is an exceptional dancer, too. “I have a sibling that looks just like me, does the same stuff, and says similar things,” he noted before adding that he’ll always be a “big supporter” of the show.

Maksim won his first DWTS Mirrorball Trophy with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis back in 2014. Though it was a very happy time for Maks, he told The Real co-hosts that he doesn’t miss the competitive aspect of Dancing With the Stars.

“You find yourself politicking for your votes,” he shared, adding that it was hard for him to not speak his mind on the show. “You find you have to be a certain way because you don’t want your antics to cost your partner their votes.”

Now, Maks just wants his fans to get to know him better outside of the show. “I want people to know me for me and not that guy that was there,” he explained.