What These Former Dancing With The Stars Pros Are Doing Now

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"Dancing with the Stars" has partnered dozens of professional dancers with various celebrities since its debut season aired back in 2005. And while early-years pros such as Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, and Julianne Hough remain affiliated with the ABC show in various capacities, the majority of their peers are no longer part of the mirrorball stable. With its 35th season now in full swing, what better time for a catch-up?

So which former prime-time favorite has completely given up the sequined world of dancing for the suited world of investments? Who's just launched their very own self-tanning range? And who has just shared the big screen with none other than Jennifer Lopez? Furthermore, which are still proving they have the moves? And which are hoping to return to the "Dancing with the Stars" stage in the future? Here are the stories of 13 pros who waltzed away from the prime-time favorite.

Alec Mazo holds the distinction of being the first professional to win the Mirrorball Trophy. The Ukrainian-born multi-talent won the first-ever season of "Dancing with the Stars" back in 2005 alongside Kelly Monaco of "General Hospital" fame. And he enjoyed a total of five seasons on the ABC juggernaut, with his last stint coming in 2009 with Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.

You're now far more likely, however, to see Mazo in the boardroom than in the ballroom. In 2012, he became the CFO of software company DGLogik, INC, and four years later, he joined investment firm DGA Capital as a general partner where, according to his LinkedIn, he focuses on "defensive investments tailored for income generation and aggressive investments in special situations with an attractive risk/reward profile."

Of course, Mazo isn't the only former "DWTS" pro in his family of four. In an interview with Jake's Takes, he explained (via Y! Entertainment) why he and his wife, Edyta Śliwińska, felt the need to seek pastures new. "We had 15 seasons between us and it was a great experience, but it became very repetitive," he said. "We had done four tours of "Dancing with the Stars" and developed a pretty decent network of connections and we just figured out that by the end of the day, it did not matter if we did 15 or 20 seasons, we had to move on from ["DWTS"] one way or another."

Alec Mazo and Edyta Śliwińska's picture-perfect life was seriously derailed in the summer of 2024 when the latter discovered she had cancer. Luckily, 12 months on, she took to Instagram to share the news that after undergoing major surgery, she was now on the road to recovery, revealing that she now felt "healthier than I have ever felt in my life."

"I made changes to my lifestyle, diet, environment, and exercise routine," Śliwińska added. "I will share what I've learned in the hope that each and every one of you can achieve a healthier self, so no one ever delivers the news to you that I received on that hospital bed." Unlike her investment partner husband, the Polish-American is still in the dancing game. She runs programs named Dance Fusion for adults and Dance Sport for children, and still takes on choreography duties.

However, Śliwińska, who partnered with the likes of Joey Lawrence, Evander Holyfield, and Ashley Hamilton during all 10 seasons of "Dancing with the Stars," acknowledged on Instagram that her priorities have changed. "My daughter often asks me, 'Mommy, what's your favorite thing to do?'" she told followers. "It used to be dancing ... but I love THIS more: spending time with the people I love and nature. And the combination of these two, hiking, skiing, going to the beach or horseback riding, is now my favorite thing."

Anna Trebunskaya spent 11 seasons on "Dancing with the Stars," with her highest placement in 2010 as the runner-up alongside figure skater Evan Lysacek. After leaving the show for good six years later, she continued to showcase her skills and help others learn them at the Hermosa Beach studio named You Can Dance.

Trebunskaya is also now a mother of two, having welcomed son Kaspyan into the world in 2017 with actor partner Nevin Millan, three years after giving birth to their daughter Amalya. Soon after, the Russian-born talent, who'd previously been wed to fellow dancer Jonathan Roberts for nearly a decade, explained to Us Weekly why she hadn't yet walked down the aisle for a second time, too.

"We just never really announced it or made a big deal about it because life is just so busy and I got pregnant and we didn't want to bring too much attention to it," Trebunskaya said, referring to the fact that she and Millan got engaged before Kaspyan was conceived. "Now that we have baby No. 2 maybe we can start figuring out our own situation and concentrating on ourselves." Nearly ten years on, though, and there hasn't been any further news on the couple's marital status.

While Alec Mazo has the honor of being the first pro "Dancing with the Stars" winner, Louis van Amstel has the ignominy of being the first pro "Dancing with the Stars" eliminee. Yes, back in its 2005 debut season, the Dutch-born talent was voted out alongside "The Bachelor" contestant Trista Sutter at the first opportunity.

Undeterred, van Amstel returned intermittently to the ABC show for another 10 seasons, with his last appearance in 2022 alongside one-time Charlie's Angel Cheryl Ladd. And in 2025, he returned to help DWTS celebrate its 20th anniversary in an opening number alongside the five other original pros. It was a reunion that got the dancer, who has two adopted sons with husband Joshua Lancaster, thinking about heading back to his old stomping ground for more than just a few minutes.

"There was a side of me that said, 'Hey, I might be OG but I ain't done,'" Van Amstel told his Instagram followers after the performance. "I want back in, I ain't done. So if I would ever be asked back to be on the show, season 35, I'd say yes in a heartbeat." Unfortunately, producers haven't yet offered an invitation.

Tony Dovolani enjoyed 21 seasons as a "Dancing with the Stars" pro, lifting the famous mirrorball trophy in 2015 with reality TV star Melissa Rycroft in the All-Stars version. Four years after the triumph, the Albanian-American bid farewell to the ABC show, later explaining to the podcast "Hollywood Life" that he'd become disillusioned with the nature of his role.

"Some of these celebrities, or reality celebrities, I should say, they sometimes ... they have an idea of what they think they are and who they are, and they didn't realize that I wasn't there to deal with them," Dovolani explained (via Y! Entertainment). "I was there to teach them how to dance. So, when it becomes about anything other than teaching them how to dance, I want no part of it." Apart from appearing in a tribute to the late Len Goodman in 2023, the star has continued to give the show a wide berth.

Dovolani is still very much dancing, however. He serves as the international dance director at Fred Astaire Dance Studios. And in 2025, he gave Jennifer Lopez, whom he'd previously helped choreograph in the 2004 flick "Shall We Dance," a twirl while playing club owner gangster Johnny Desiderio in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." The multi-talented actor now has two more acting projects in the works: the high school football drama "The Golden Knights" and the romantic comedy "If You Want."

Maksim Chmerkovskiy proved that patience is a virtue when he won "Dancing with the Stars" on his 14th attempt in 2014, with ice-dancing Olympian Meryl Davis. Four years later, the Ukrainian-American, who by this point had walked down the aisle with fellow pro Peta Murgatroyd, decided it was time to bow out.

Chmerkovskiy has kept himself busy in the world of reality TV, finishing runner-up while cosplaying as a sloth in "The Masked Singer," gracing the second season of the phenomenon that is "The Traitors," and joining the oft-controversial JoJo Siwa and Allison Holker on the judging panel of "So You Think You Can Dance?" He's also showcased his acting skills as survivalist Jack in the vertical microdrama "Wild Silence."

In 2022, Chmerkovskiy made headlines after posting dramatic footage of his escape from his native Ukraine amid Russia's invasion. Speaking on "Good Morning America" soon after, the star explained why he decided to document the experience on social media. "This was not me trying to publicize the situation," he said (via E! News). "This was me trying to cry for help. I literally, I was just screaming out, 'This is what I just saw. I just want you to see it, whoever you are.'"

Karina Smirnoff, who won season 13 of "Dancing with the Stars" alongside "All My Children" star J. R. Martinez, left the ABC show in 2016 and briefly returned seven years later to honor the late judge Len Goodman. But she's remained heavily involved in the dancing world, as she explained to San Francisco news station KRON 4 in 2025.

"I've been judging quite a lot, and I have couples that I lead," said Smirnoff. "It's a very competitive world, so everyone wants to enjoy when they dance [but] they also want to win ... But, it is a happy atmosphere. Once the music is on, all the competition goes to the side and people just truly enjoy dancing." The five-time U.S. champion has also shown her skills in the film "Tango Shalom" and on the reality show "Dancing Queens." 

The Ukrainian-born star has also been adjusting to life as a mom, having welcomed her son Theo into the world with her partner, Justinas Duknauskas, in 2020. "I love babies, but when I would come to my friends who had a newborn and they were like, 'Here, hold,' and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, how do I?'" Smirnoff admitted to Us Weekly about her parental anxieties. 

Kym Johnson-Herjavec first danced with the stars on the Australian version for three seasons before making the leap to the American equivalent in 2006, going on to win the mirrorball trophy with both the oft-tragic Donny Osmond and American football coach Hines Ward.

In 2015, Johnson-Herjavec got engaged and then married Robert Herjavec, the businessman and "Shark Tank" regular who'd just been her dancefloor partner for what proved to be her penultimate season. The couple went on to have twins and, a decade on, are very much still an item. In fact, they recently gave People magazine readers a sneak peek into their luxury vacation home. "When we had our kids, I think it was really important to them to have a little bit of Canadian roots," Johnson-Herjavec explained about the choice of destination. "I think it doesn't get more Canadian than the lakes."

Johnson-Herjavec still has one foot in the showbiz world. In 2026, she revealed that she'd be reuniting with fellow former "DWTS" pro Tristan MacManus for a tour named "Burn the Floor." "The thing I miss about dancing is the rehearsals!" she captioned behind-the-scenes footage uploaded to Instagram. And she's also found the time to show off both her dancing and her acting skills while playing opposite Gilles Marini in a seasonal TV movie titled "Christmas in the Ballroom."

Kym Johnson-Herjavec isn't the only former "Dancing with the Stars" pro who's pivoted into acting. Chelsie Hightower, who enjoyed seven seasons on the ABC show, has appeared in several seasonal movies including "Enchanted Christmas" and "The Nutcracker Wish." And in 2021, she took the lead in Lifetime's "Stalked in Paradise."

Hightower, whose highest "DWTS" finish was the fifth place achieved with rapper Romeo in season 12, hasn't given up on her first love, though. She's still busy teaching at her Dance Elevated camp and in 2020, she launched a new dancewear firm, Inside Out. In an interview with Fox 13, the multi-talented star explained how the former was heavily inspired by her time on America's premier dance show.

"I felt a desire to give back to the next generation, to teach them what I have learned through my careers and what helped me succeed and what gave me motivation on those hard days when I wanted to do anything but dance," Hightower said. "I wanted to share what helped me reach those milestones that gave me motivation and momentum to achieve and reach higher."

Tristan MacManus spent five seasons on "Dancing with the Stars," achieving a high of fifth place with legal commentator Nancy Grace in 2011. But his journey with the franchise didn't end there. He also enjoyed two years on the British equivalent, "Strictly Come Dancing," and then served as a judge on the Australian version in 2019.

MacManus has since become a screen regular Down Under, co-hosting the live morning show "Studio 10," reporting on his beloved soccer team Leeds United for 10 Football, and heading into the jungle for the 2024 edition of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here."

Unfortunately, MacManus has lately found himself in the headlines for his eventful personal life rather than his professional life. In 2023, he told Instagram followers (via Yahoo! Life) that he'd "spent the last few months in agony" after suffering nerve damage to his back, chest, and neck. "It finally got too much and I had to go in for an operation on my neck and sort out and take out some rogue vertebrae," he added alongside a selfie from his hospital bed. And then, in 2025, reports emerged that he'd split from his actor wife of 10 years — and the mother of his three kids — Tahyna Tozzi. Here's a look at other real-life partners of "Dancing with the Stars" pros.

Ashly DelGrosso, who now performs under her married name, Ashly Costa, placed third in the original "Dancing with the Stars" alongside her partner, New Kids on the Block pin-up Joey McIntyre. That same year, she began dating one of the show's producers, Mike Costa, a development that led the show to amend its fraternization policies. And by the time she moved on to pastures new in 2010, they were married with two kids.

The couple has since expanded their family. In fact, Ashly gave birth to their fifth child, Emma, as recently as 2023. Two years on, their eldest achieved a major milestone as his mom proudly shared on Instagram. "Ammon is graduating from my same high school exactly 25 years later!" she captioned (via TV Insider) a photo of the big day.

While raising her family, Ashly has also remained in the dance world, most notably as a ballroom teacher at the NUVO Dance Convention, where, according to its official website, she "enjoys working with talented studios and intensives across the country, sharing her passion for dance."

Peta Murgatroyd, who won the Mirrorball Trophy with both former wide receiver Donald Driver and model Nyle DiMarco during her 15-season stint on "Dancing with the Stars," has been relatively quiet of late. Little surprise, considering that in 2024 she gave birth to her third child with fellow former pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, not to mention that they've just moved from Los Angeles to Florida.

However, there are signs that she's now getting back in the game. In 2026, she and her other half uploaded a clip of themselves busting some moves to Tom Waits' "Way Down in the Hole" in a dance studio on Instagram, captioned, "Mom and Dad are back ... and back at it! See y'all soon." The footage quickly got fans excited about the prospect of a new project involving the pair including "DWTS" favorite Sharna Burgess who commented, "SO FIRE I LOVE YOU BOTH!!!"

Murgatroyd has also been busy launching her own self-tanning range, Peta Jane Beauty. In an interview with Target, the New Zealander spoke about how hands-on she'd been with its products: "I tested countless formulas, worked alongside chemists, and paid attention to every detail, from the color to the packaging and spray performance. I wanted to be recognized as a businesswoman and founder, not just a dancer."

Lindsay Arnold, who won the Mirrorball Trophy with actor Jordan Fisher during her ten-season run, might no longer be a "Dancing with the Stars" professional. But she's still intrinsically linked to the hit show.

Indeed, Lindsay joined Brandon Armstrong and her younger sibling Rylee Arnold for a performance at the Dancing with the Stars Con 2026. And she'd only given birth seven weeks earlier! "Truly a dream come true dancing with my baby sis," she captioned an Instagram Story (via People) of the occasion.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Rylee — who's been a part of the "DWTS" team herself since partnering with Harry Jowsey in season 32, having previously competed on its junior version — revealed that she still seeks advice from Lindsay. "... I call her all the time in rehearsals, and I'm like, 'Do you like this dance move? Is this good?' So, she's a part of this whole process for me, and she's the best." When asked by The Hollywood Reporter whether her sister would ever head back to the show, Rylee said that although she would love her to, she doesn't believe a return is on the cards.