The new season of Dancing with the Stars kicks off on September 21.

To the delight of female viewers, Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be featured on it. The handsome professional is teamed with actress Debi Mazar and, as he told TV Guide, Maksim is very happy about that.

Here are excerpts from his interview with the magazine:

On Mazar: She's doing great. We're having fun. Well, we're having a lot of fun. She's really funny. She talks a lot. The energy's great. I think 50 percent of the accomplishment is how you can get along because it's a really long season and you want to spend it with somebody you're cool with. From the past seasons, we know the audience also likes the banter, the personalities who get along and show fun and excitement.

On possible dark horses: Donny Osmond — he has a fanbase that's so massive that he doesn't even need to dance, period. I think he'll do great. He's a great entertainer. Also, people like him bring popularity to the show and we all have a job! [Laughs] Kym [Johnson, Osmond's partner] and the types of dances she does, it will be fun watching him do them.

Mya — Dmitry [Chaplin, Mya's partner] will hopefully be able to pull it out of her. I think Mark Dacascos, on paper, is great. I remember watching him doing his thing with Jet Li. He could be one of the dark horses people don't think about. I think Debi will be great. [She could be] a dark horse too.

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