After sitting out last season for some physical rehab, Dacing With the Stars professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy is back this season.  Maksim's dance partner this year is going to be two-time Olympic gold medal winner Misty May-Treanor.

The lucky folks at TV Guide recently had a chance to sit down with dancing stud and we have an excerpt for you.

You said you needed a break from the show. But did you miss it?
Chmerkovskiy: I actually did. And I'm happy to be back. The only thing I was worried about was I thought that I was gonna get punished for taking time off and get somebody to dance with who was not good. But they ended up rewarding me by giving me probably the best partner I could have. I thought I couldn't top Mel B.

TVGuide.com: Misty is better than Mel B?
Chmerkovskiy: I was shocked, and I don’t throw that word around lightly. People are going to be very surprised by how well she's going to dance. Laila (Ali, season four) had an incredible work ethic. But I could be too much for her. She'd say: You've gotta back off. And then Mel (season five) was just this incredible personality. But she had zero attention span. So here, in Misty, I have a combination of the best qualities of both. She's like a perfect person to love. She has this aura of sweetness, and she'll practice for as long as it takes. Let Cheryl [Burke] and Julianne [Hough] collect the trophies. I'll collect friends for life.

For more, be sure and head over to TV Guide for the full interview.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.