Ahead of Dancing with the Stars‘ 33rd season hitting the upcoming TV schedule for ABC’s fall lineup, the dust is being shaken off of some behind-the-scenes drama that went down years ago. Namely, former contestant Bristol Palin made some harsh claims about dance pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, which were enough to spark a response from the choreographer.
What Bristol Palin Said
While appearing on the Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, the host talked to the daughter of the former Alaskan governor about her experiences during Season 11 of the dance competition. The tea was spilled when Burke asked who rolled their eyes whenever Palin and partner Mark Ballas were saved from being eliminated. According to the Teen Mom OG vet:
Oh, Maks. Oh, he hated me so much. . . . Probably just because we kept going though. I mean, he was real nice at the beginning, but it was one of those things where, like, as we kept going through, I definitely felt the tension from him. I forgot about that. Yeah, because the further we went along, the more it was like, ‘Oh gosh, OK.’
As opposed to pinning the perceived hatred on anything personal regarding herself or her dance pro partner, Palin thinks it stemmed from the fact that she continued advancing that season despite widespread criticism for her dance skills, or lack thereof, as it were. At the time, fans theorized that Palin and Ballas kept making it through based on her mom Sarah Palin’s stoking her followers for support.
Whatever the reason, they made it all the way to third place in that initial run — they were the fourth pair eliminated upon returning for DWTS’ all-star season in 2012 — while Maksim Chmerkovskiy and partner Brandy finished in fourth place. Derek Hough and Jennifer Grey took home the Mirrorball trophy that season.
How Maksim Chmerkovskiy Responded
Though he didn’t offer up any responses for the first two days that the podcast episode was public, Maksim Chmerkovskiy released the following statement to the New York Post via a representative:
Maks doesn’t hate anybody and he’s never hated Bristol. His bad boy reputation was overblown by the media at the time. He was really good at dancing and he was really competitive, which are two important qualities you need to be on Dancing With the Stars. Maks was disappointed because he and Brandy were on their way to win that year. He and everyone else in America were taken by surprise.
While denying any such claims that he actively hated her, Maks didn’t attempt to pretend that the emotions that were felt at the time were non-existent. Really, the statement kind of makes it sound like the dance pro is still angry about it, and that he still believes he and Brandy were robbed of winning that competition. Whether or not that’s true, he doesn’t seem to be holding any grudges.
Cheryl Burke heard about other Season 11 drama in a previous podcast episode when she had Damian Whitewood on as a guest. For his first season, Whitewood was partnered with Pamela Anderson, but wasn’t ever asked to return for a follow-up season, despite a lack of obvious issues. Whitewood claims the reason ties back to him having previously dated and split from Peta Murgatroyd, who was asked back. (And who is also Maks’ current significant other).
Former Bachelorette star Charity Lawson told Cheryl Burke about how awful the Dancing with the Stars fandom was to her even compared to the notoriously vocal Bachelor Nation fanbase.
Hopefully no further foul feelings arise from this situation, and everyone can carry on with their lives peacefully. At least until Season 33 airs on ABC and streams via Disney+ subscription starting on Tuesday, September 17. The only current cast member is Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik, but more announcements are on the way in the coming weeks.