In a candid new interview, Dancing with the Stars pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy pull back the curtain on their romance, revealing that their love story started with Peta thinking her future husband was a total ‘a-hole.’ We break down the surprising confession and the decade-long journey from Broadway rivals to a family of five.
It’s a love story more than a decade in the making, but for Peta Murgatroyd, it didn’t start with love at first sight. It started with a single, blunt assessment of her future husband and fellow dance pro, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. When asked about her first impression of him, Murgatroyd didn’t hesitate.
“I thought that you were an a-hole,” she admitted during a joint interview with Access Hollywood on December 10. The refreshingly honest confession reveals the rocky start to one of ballroom’s most beloved power couples, proving that even fairytale romances can begin with a bit of friction.
A Broadway Meeting with a ‘Big Ass Ego’
The duo’s story begins not on the polished floor of Dancing with the Stars, but on the Broadway stage. They first met in 2009 during the production of Burn the Floor. While Chmerkovskiy, 45, admitted his first thought was about her physical presence—”It’s the body… I didn’t even hear you speak before I saw you move”—Murgatroyd’s impression was far less flattering.
She recalled that he arrived at the production with “this big ass ego,” a perception that immediately put her on guard. To be fair, she did concede that she also thought he was “very tall and handsome,” but clarified they were both dating other people at the time. “So you chose to hate,” Chmerkovskiy quipped in response. Murgatroyd insisted she “grew to like” and eventually “grew to love” him, a sentiment she previously echoed in a 2015 interview where she described her initial impression of him as “arrogant,” a detail confirmed by People.
The ‘DWTS’ Reunion and a Paradoxical Breakup
Their paths crossed again in 2011 on Dancing with the Stars, where Murgatroyd joined as a troupe dancer. By 2012, their professional relationship had blossomed into a romance they made public. However, the connection was short-lived, and they broke up after less than a year of dating.
In a surprising twist, Chmerkovskiy revealed that the breakup was the very moment he realized she was the one. “At some point, when I actually came to that realization, like, ‘This is it.’ That’s when we broke up,” he explained. This pivotal moment set the stage for a dramatic reconciliation and a much stronger future.
From Second Chance to a Family of Five
The couple rekindled their romance in October 2014, and this time, it was for good. Their professional and personal lives beautifully collided in December 2015 when Chmerkovskiy proposed to Murgatroyd live during a performance of Sway: A Dance Trilogy in Miami, a milestone in their extensive relationship timeline chronicled by People.
From there, their family life accelerated. They welcomed their first son, Shai Aleksander, in January 2017 and tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Oheka Castle in New York that July. Their family continued to grow with the arrival of their second son, Rio John, in June 2023, followed quickly by their third son, Milan Maksim, in July 2024.
Why Their Unfiltered Honesty Matters
In an era of carefully curated celebrity personas, the couple’s willingness to admit their story wasn’t a perfect fairytale from day one is what makes it so compelling. Murgatroyd’s candid “a-hole” comment isn’t just a funny soundbite; it’s a relatable acknowledgment that relationships are complex and initial impressions aren’t always lasting. It shatters the illusion of effortless Hollywood romances and resonates with fans who know that real love stories often have messy, imperfect beginnings.
Their journey from a Broadway stage rife with tension to a bustling home with three children is a testament to growth, forgiveness, and seeing beyond a “big ass ego.” By openly sharing their rocky start, Maksim and Peta provide a narrative that is far more inspiring than a simple “love at first sight” tale—it’s a story about finding a soulmate in the person you once couldn’t stand.
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