Heavy/Getty Maks Chmerkovskiy reveals the partner who he had the least chemistry with.
A “Dancing With the Stars” pro has revealed the person who he had the “worst chemistry” with during his time on the show.
On the September 25, 2023, episode of Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Maksim Chmerkovskiy spilled a spot of tea about some of his former partners on the show, prior to his 2018 retirement.
During a rapid fire question portion of the podcast, Burke asked Chmerkovskiy which former “Dancing With the Stars” partner he had the “worst chemistry” with. His response was Hope Solo, whom he danced with on season 13.
Chmerkovskiy also said that he had the “worst fight” with Solo when he was asked to name that person as part of the podcast segment. Despite the two not getting along, Chmerkovskiy and Solo did end up making it to the semifinals, finishing the season in fourth place. Karina Smirnoff and her partner J.R. Martinez took home the Mirrorball Trophy that year.
Here’s what you need to know:
Hope Solo Wrote About Her Experience on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in Her Memoir
Solo, former goaltender for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, wrote about her time on “Dancing With the Stars” in her memoir, “Solo: A Memoir of Hope,” which was released in 2012.
On the inside pages, Solo claimed that Chmerkovskiy was rough with her during rehearsals.
“He was often nasty, swearing at me and being harshly critical,” Solo wrote, according to USA Today. “He manhandled me in rehearsals from the start, pushing me, whacking my stomach, bending my arms roughly. I thought that was just how it went – how dancers worked with each other. But it kept getting worse. One day, Maks was trying to put me in a certain position and hit my stomach so hard with his open palm that I had a red handprint there for the rest of the day,” she continued.
Chmerkovskiy denied any and all accusations of physical abuse, according to TMZ. ”
“Maks is one of the nicest guys in the world. This is 100 percent not true. At the moment, Maks and ABC are not making any public statements, as they are considering legal options. Not only did Hope not tell the truth in the book, she also signed a contract with the producers of ‘DWTS’ and could be in breach of contract,” a source told Huff Post at the time.
Maks Chmerkovskiy Previously Called Hope Solo a ‘Sh**** Person’
In a 2015 appearance on the “Allegedly” podcast, Chmerkovskiy played a game of “F***, Marry, Kill,” using his former “Dancing With the Stars” partners to fill in the blanks.
“I would definitely kill Hope Solo,” Chmerkovskiy said without skipping a beat (per The Wrap). “She’s just a sh**** person. People can be bad or good or whatever. You can have a sh**** life growing up. You can have a tough upbringing. You can have history. You can have whatever. But if you are just a bad person, you know what I mean? There’s no excuse for that,” he added.
After the podcast episode was released, Solo took to Twitter, which is now known at X, to post a photo of the three DWTS judges holding up scores of “1” on their paddles.
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