'Dancing With the Stars' Season 18 Premiere: ABC Announces Start Date for 2014 Edition; Maks to be a Judge? [VIDEO]
The 18th season of Dancing With the Stars has an official premiere date, with the first 2014 edition just two months away.
Dancing With the Stars season 18 will be premiering March 17 on ABC, according to the network's entertainment president Paul Lee, who revealed the news to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour Friday.
The long-running dancing competition series adopted a one-night format in season 17, where Glee actress Amber Riley and partner Derek Hough prevailed. The new season will be using the same format, as it helped increase ratings for the show.
"It actually grew. We didn't quite end the season as high, but the season itself was higher," Lee said. "We want to find ways to turn that up just a little bit. We were pleased with how it worked for us."
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While judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli are all expected to return for an 18th season, Lee was cryptic in handling a question about another potential judge: Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
"We're not quite ready to say... We thought Maks did a fabulous job and we're going to continue working with him in the future," Lee said. "Nothing to announce now, but we will keep working with him."
Chmerkovskiy was a guest judge during the semifinal round of Dancing With the Stars season 17. Other guest judges included fellow pro dancer Julianne Hough and music icon Cher.
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Dancing With the Stars season 18 premieres Monday, March 17 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
