The cast for Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars was announced on Wednesday, September 3, and fans quickly noticed that Sasha Farber was not one of the professional dancers on the cast list. Despite previously competing on 12 seasons of the show, Farber is not coming back for the next installment.
However, Farber doesn’t appear to have hard feelings. After the cast was announced, he posted several of the new couples to his Instagram Story with congratulatory messages. He then shared a video of himself on a walk and broke his silence on the casting decision.
“It’s a beautiful day today,” Farber began. “Guys, the Dancing With the Stars cast announcement was today. Wow, so many good names. Who are you going to vote for? I mean, I know who I’m going to vote for. I know who you’re not going to vote for, that’s me. That’s OK.”
Disney / Eric McCandless
He continued, “Thank you so much for all your incredible messages. I read them all. I see it all. I definitely don’t deserve you because you guys are amazing. I love you. Thank you so much. This is going to be quite a season because there’s so many showrunners. Like, who’s gonna win? Anyone could win. This is gonna be great and I can’t wait to cheer. Love you all.”
Most recently, Farber was on Season 33 with Jenn Tran. They finished in seventh place and continued a romantic relationship after the show ended. However, they’ve since called it quits.
While Farber has never won Dancing With the Stars, he has two third place finishes (Season 26 with Tonya Harding and Season 28 with Ally Brooke). He also came in fourth place with Simone Biles during Season 24 and with Justina Machado during Season 29.
Meanwhile, Farber’s ex-wife, Emma Slater, and her new boyfriend, Alan Bersten, are both part of Season 34. They are partnered with Andy Richter and Elaine Hendrix, respectively.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 16 Premiere, Tuesday, September 16, 8/7c, ABC