Peta Murgatroyd is “so upset” for her fiancé, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, after his tumultuous turn on Dancing With the Stars abruptly ended Monday night. Chmerkovskiy and his partner Heather Morris were eliminated from the ABC celebrity ballroom competition after earning the first perfect score of the season. The night also marked Maks’ return to the show after an extended absence for a serious calf injury. So his perfect-scoring rumba, which should have been a triumphant comeback, turned out to be a farewell dance.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight , Peta Murgatroyd said she fully expected her man and his celebrity partner to make it to the finals this season on Dancing With the Stars.
“I’m so upset for him,” Murgatroyd told ET .
“He was so excited. He was just getting over his calf injury, and I mean, I swear they were gonna be in the finals. I mean, they’re incredible together. I just don’t understand it. But you know the show is based so heavily on fan votes, so I think that’s just it. They just lacked that I guess.”
Murgatroyd, who is partnered with Bachelo r star Nick Viall this season, explained why her reality TV partner has now outlasted a former Beyonce backup dancer.
“That’s the thing with this show,” Peta said. “It’s not just a dancing competition. You know that. It’s a popularity contest. He’s a popular guy.”
While Maks was out nursing his caught-on-camera calf injury, Peta kept fans updated on his condition via her blog for People magazine. Ahead of last week’s Disney-themed dances, Murgatroyd revealed that she had hoped to see her man back on the dance floor.
“At home, he’s dancing around a little and is able to put more and more weight on his leg but he’s not fully back to where he was before his injury,” Peta wrote last week. “I’m really hoping — and I know he’s hoping — to be back fully next week!”
Once it was confirmed that Chmerkovskiy would be returning to dance with Morris this week, Peta Murgatroyd revealed that she wanted her fiancé to ease his way back into the ballroom.
“He’s coming back after sitting out a few weeks because of an injury,” Murgatroyd told People .
“He just wants to be back and be 100 percent. I just want to be there for him and be positive and support him. I know he wants to go 150 percent, but I’m telling him to ease back into it and not go crazy in this first dance because you don’t want to re-injure yourself.”
Turns out, the only thing injured was Maks’ pride after his two-hour return to the live ABC competition.
Earlier in the season, Peta’s fiancé and his partner were called out by some fans due to Morris’ professional dance experience. But Maks downplayed the unfair advantage people assumed they had.
“To say that we just have this massive advantage, I think so, but I don’t think we’re the only ones that could pull off beautiful, beautiful numbers,” the Ukrainian pro dancer said. “I’m ready for us to be scrutinized a little different and judged a little different and rightfully so, we’ll do our best.”
The Glee star had been approached twice in the past to compete on Dancing With the Stars but had turned the show down. Just hours before her elimination was announced, Heather talked about her decision to do the show in her own People blog, revealing that “sleep deprivation” was getting the best of her as she juggled her stint on Dancing With the Stars with a massive home renovation.
“When it’s all done, I’ll finally be able to take that salt bath I most desperately have needed for the past five weeks,” she wrote. Sadly, that bath will be coming sooner than she expected.
You can see Peta Murgatroyd on Dancing With the Stars Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
[Featured Image by Monica Schipper/Getty Images]