This past Monday’s Dancing With The Stars season 18 lineup included a lot of new faces to the show, along with various pro-dancer favorites as well. Among the favorites returning to Dancing With The Stars season 18 was Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who had been on a hiatus for a season, but not recurring pro-dancing favorite Chelsie Hightower.
Hightower, 24, from Las Vegas, NV, first started her television-dancing career when she appeared on the FOX dancing/reality show So You Think You Can Dance during the show’s fourth season. Hightower was eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance in July of 2008 after securing her place into the contestant’s top sixth rankings. One of Hightower’s most memorable performances on the show was when she performed “Bleeding Love” with other So You Think You Can Dance contestant Mark Kanemura, who has recently been working closely with Lady Gaga.
Hightower has been involved with Dancing With The Stars since the show’s eighth season when she was paired with rodeo cowboy Ty Murray. Hightower has also been involved with Dancing With The Stars up to its fifteenth season. Many of Hightower’s fans were expecting a comeback appearance for the 18th season; however, according to SheKnows.com’s Reality TV Magazine, Hightower will be involved with ABC’s dance/reality show in a different way–by contributing her thoughts and feedback regarding the performances on the show’s ABC Blog.
On Tuesday morning, the day after Dancing With The Stars‘ season 18’s premiere, Hightower appeared on Good Morning America to recap and discuss her insights into the premiere as well.
Be sure to watch @GMA Tuesday for a @DancingABC recap by yours truly 🙂 (that's me)
— Chelsie Hightower (@chelsiehightowr) March 16, 2014
SheKnows.com’s Reality TV Magazine offered the following statement pertaining to Hightower’s absence from Dancing With The Stars season 18.
“While it’s sad that she’s no longer on stage, it is nice to know that Chelsie still considers herself a part of the DWTS community. The dancer has dedicated herself to providing other fans with excellent insight into everything from costumes to choreography.”
Other So You Think You Can Dance alumni who are not returning for season 18 of Dancing With The Stars but have been involved with the show in the past are Lacey Schwimmer and Dmitry Chaplin; however, Lindsay Arnold continues her involvement with the Dancing With The Stars troupe, and Witney Carson has started her pro-dancer career on the show as she pairs with Australian singer Cody Simpson.
Image via YouTube (0:44)