For longtime Dancing With the Stars viewers, changes to the professional dancer lineup are nothing new.

Pros come and go. Some take breaks. Others return after a season away. Sometimes a familiar face quietly disappears from the ballroom without much explanation.

But Sasha Farber’s absence from season 35 immediately feels different for one simple reason.

He says it was not his choice.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Farber responded to a fan on TikTok after ABC revealed the professional dancers who would be paired with celebrities for the upcoming season.

His name was missing.

A fan asked whether Farber had chosen to step away, suggesting that his growing popularity on social media might have opened the door to another kind of role, perhaps something behind the scenes or a hosting position similar to Derek Hough’s entertainment work.

Farber’s reported response was brief.

“It wasn’t my choice.”

The comment appears to have later been deleted.

That short answer creates more questions than a lengthy statement probably would have.

Farber did not explain why he was not returning.

He did not publicly identify who made the decision.

He did not say whether he had been expecting to be part of season 35.

But by making clear that the absence was not voluntary, he changed the framing immediately.

This is no longer simply a pro dancer taking a season off.

It is a familiar DWTS figure indicating that someone else made the call.

Entertainment Weekly said it reached out to Farber’s representative and the show for comment.

Farber is also not the only veteran professional missing from the upcoming season.

Gleb Savchenko will not return either.

But his response could not have been more different.

In a social media video, Savchenko told fans, “Guys, stop saying sorry to me — I’m good.”

He laughed while delivering the message and later reinforced it in the caption.

“Guys, I promise… I’m fine,” he wrote.

He said he had “only love and gratitude” for the years he spent in the ballroom and added that he was excited for his “next chapter.”

He also wished the show a great season and told fans there should be no sad messages because he was moving forward.

That contrast matters.

Both Farber and Savchenko are absent.

But Savchenko framed his departure as closure.

Farber framed his as something imposed.

That does not mean there was conflict behind the scenes.

Nothing in the available information establishes that.

But Farber’s wording naturally makes his absence more intriguing because it removes the simplest explanation: that he simply did not want to participate.

Meanwhile, ABC is moving ahead with a celebrity cast filled with recognizable names.

Season 35 includes Giada De Laurentiis, Olympic athletes Amber Glenn and Ezra Frech, and several Hollywood actors.

Tatyana Ali, known for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is among the competitors.

Julia Stiles, star of Save the Last Dance, is also joining the lineup.

And Jenna Dewan brings an especially interesting background to the ballroom.

Unlike many celebrity contestants, Dewan already has professional dance experience.

Before becoming widely known as an actress, she danced professionally for Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake and later appeared in the Step Up film franchise.

She has been open about how meaningful her history with Jackson remains.

“Janet was my first vision board moment of my life,” Dewan previously said.

She explained that as a teenager, dancing for Janet Jackson was one of her biggest ambitions.

“I wanted to dance for Janet Jackson so badly,” she said.

When it finally happened, she could hardly believe it.

Dewan also said she remains “still really good friends” with Jackson and joked that after one tequila, she still breaks out the choreography from “If.”

Her inclusion shows that season 35 is not lacking for recognizable talent or dance-related storylines.

But that may only make Farber’s omission stand out more.

He is not disappearing from a weak or transitional season.

He is missing from a heavily promoted lineup full of celebrities with strong entertainment backgrounds.

And because he has now said the decision was not his, fans are left trying to understand whether this is simply part of the show’s normal casting rotation or something more meaningful.

There is also a broader reality behind professional casting on Dancing With the Stars.

Being part of the pro lineup is not the same thing as holding a permanent position.

Each season requires a new combination of celebrities, partners, personalities and production decisions.

A veteran dancer can be highly recognizable and still find themselves outside the final pairing list.

Farber’s comment is important because it reminds viewers of that reality.

Public familiarity does not guarantee a place.

And social-media popularity does not necessarily translate into a ballroom assignment.

At the moment, however, the only fact Farber has personally added is the most interesting one.

He did not choose this.

Savchenko, meanwhile, is openly telling fans he is fine and ready for whatever comes next.

That leaves the two veterans standing in very different emotional positions as season 35 begins.

One has offered closure.

The other has offered a mystery.

Dancing With the Stars season 35 begins with a two-night premiere on Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The episodes will also stream live on Disney+ and become available on Hulu the following day.

By then, the focus will move to new partnerships, new dances and new celebrity storylines.

But before the first scores are even handed out, Sasha Farber has already created one of the season’s most intriguing questions simply by saying five words:

“It wasn’t my choice.”