Deep Dive
Maksim Chmerkovskiy Confirms He Had 1 ‘Relationship’ With a ‘DWTS’ Partner: Who Was It?
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy has been happily married to Peta Murgatroyd since 2017, but there was a time when he was a single man and competing as a pro on Dancing with the Stars. On the Sibling Revelry podcast, Chmerkovskiy admitted to having a romantic relationship with one of his celebrity partners on the show.
“I personally had one relationship out of 17 seasons that I did. It was very short-lived, and it was a mistake, all the way in the beginning,” he shared. So, who was this fling with? We did a deep dive into his romantic history to narrow it down!
From Seasons 2 to 5, all of Chmerkovskiy’s partners — Tia Carrere, Willa Ford, Laila Ali, and Mel B — were in relationships while he was paired with them on the show. He skipped Season 6, then returned for Season 7 with Misty May-Treanor, who was married at the time of the partnership.
For Seasons 8 and 9 in 2009, Chmerkovskiy was in a relationship with Karina Smirnoff. They got engaged on New Year’s Day 2009 and didn’t split until the end of that year, so his partners in those seasons — Denise Richards and Debi Mazar (who was also married) — are off the table.
During Season 10 in 2010, Chmerkovskiy was partnered with Erin Andrews, who was also single then, so she would be a viable option. Later that year, he was paired up with Brandy Norwood in Season 11. Although the timeline of her relationship history is a bit murkier, she was also seemingly single at the time of the partnership. In fact, when they were preparing for their romantic rumba dance on the show, she revealed that they went on a date!
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“It’s seeing Maksim in a different light, he’s my buddy, my teacher so it was hard to separate the three,” she told Essence. “I dressed up and really treated it like it was date. It still brought a different side to both of us. He got to see me all blushy, and I got to see him a little more vulnerable. It was really sweet and the flowers and the candy.”
For Season 12, Chmerkovskiy was paired with Kirstie Alley, and it’s no secret that they developed a close friendship, but it certainly never turned romantic. Season 13 was the last season before Chmerkovskiy started dating Murgatroyd. He danced with Hope Solo, and they had an extremely volatile relationship. “I don’t like her, and that’s the end of it,” he once said. So, we’re going to rule that out.
After taking two seasons off, Chmerkovskiy returned for Season 18 and was actually on a break from his relationship with Murgatroyd at the time. Although fans loved the chemistry between him and partner Meryl Davis, she was dating her now-husband when they were partners. Then, Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd reunited, and the rest is history.
Based on Norwood’s past comments, it certainly seems like she’s the mystery woman in his dating story, but his rep would not confirm the person’s identity to Entertainment Weekly.