Heavy/Getty Maks Chmerkovskiy made Denise Richards cry.
Season 8 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Denise Richards opened up about her time on the show in a new interview with ballroom pro, Cheryl Burke.
On the March 4, 2024, episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Richards told Burke that she actually requested to dance with her season partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The two danced together back in 2009.
“There was him and then someone else that I said, and so… my mom liked Maks. Maks is tough. He’s a really tough go, I have to say,” Richards said. “He made me cry a couple times,” she added with a laugh.
Richards and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated on the second week of the competition.
Here’s what you need to know:
Denise Richards Said That Maks Chmerkovskiy Was ‘Great’
Chmerkovskiy has always been known as a tough teacher in the ballroom and Richards experienced that first hand.
“Maks was great. The thing was, we would be in rehearsal and he was different than then… we go to lunch for break and we would hang out and talk and it was so cool. And then we’re go back and I was like, ‘[expletive]! Are you the same person?'” Richards recalled.
“He was a hard ass. And I think… I understand because of how disciplined you guys have trained your entire life. But, I’m not an athlete and so, that’s why I think athletes do so well on the show. They can take it. I just think I was so sensitive because I was like, ‘I’m trying my hardest,'” Richards explained.
She went on to say that she thinks there’s a way for someone to be both tough and “nurturing.” She believes that he’s probably be different now, since becoming a father. Chmerkovskiy and his wife, Peta Murgatroyd, are parents of two boys, Shai, 7, and Rio, 8 months. They have another baby on the way.
“But, I adore him. He’s amazing,” she concluded.
Maks Chmerkovskiy Recently Addressed His ‘Bad Boy’ Reputation
In an interview with Variety ahead of his debut as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” Chmerkovskiy explained a little bit about his reputation and said that he thinks that he’s misunderstood.
“You’re going to have to evaluate me and the job that I’m doing. I never go in thinking I’m the tough judge, so now I’m going to be tough — I think I’m a soft-ass bunny sweetheart, white and fluffy. I think you all got confused,” Chmerkovskiy told the outlet.
“You all misinterpret me. Everybody misunderstands me. I lead with rainbows and unicorns and butterflies. And somehow I’m the ‘bad boy of ballroom.’ I didn’t even know what that meant most of the time. I tried to be me and then you guys would be like, ‘Maks was an [expletive],'” he added.
Chmerkovskiy won the Mirrorball Trophy with Meryl Davis on season 18. He parted ways with the show after season 25, though he has been in the ballroom supporting his family members, three of whom are still on the show. On season 32, Chmerkovskiy was part of the Len Goodman tribute.
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