Dancing With the Stars’ Bruno Tonioli Reveals If He's Leaving the Show

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Bruno Tonioli isn’t going anywhere.

Ahead of Dancing With the Stars’ 35th season premiere later this year, the judge—who has been part of the series since the very beginning—considered whether he’d ever make an exit.

“The thing with me, I’m kind of the least planning person,” Tonioli admitted in an interview with TVLine June 4. “I love my job. I really, really enjoy it. That’s really the reason. I enjoy the public.”

Indeed, Tonioli also gets a lot out of the format of the series.

“It’s almost like doing a Broadway show,” he explained. “There is such instant feedback you get from the audience.”

Of course, the 70-year-old also can’t get enough of the impressive routines week after week.

“The kids really excite me, I’m not making it up,” he mused. “They deliver work of the highest standard and I’m always excited about watching what they’re going to do.”

And so as for whether he has an exit plan? Tonioli joked he hopes to “never find out” what the show is like without him.

“Until they want me, I’ll be there,” he said. “Because I really love the show. I really do.”

Meanwhile, other fixtures of the series have been in and out. Julianne Hough started on the show as a pro before exiting in 2009, only to return as a judge years later. She exited again in 2017, but ended up returning as a co-host alongside Alfonso Ribeiro in 2023.

Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images

“To come back now as a host it just really does seem full-circle,” Hough shared during a 2023 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “Alfonso and I are going to be hosting, so this is just going to be like coming back home.”

And years later, Hough emphasized her part in the show’s legacy.

“I’m here to hold space for the dancers, the celebrities, and even the audience—so they can relax and be their most authentic selves,” she told Variety last year. “It’s about legacy and nurturing now, not proving anything.”

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