10:22 AM EDT 10/19/2009
Karina Smirnoff
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Karina Smirnoff Savors the Single Life
Originally posted 10/15/2009 05:15PM
It may take two to tango, but stepping out solo has its benefits, too.
"I love being single," Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff, who recently split with costar Maksim Chmerkovskiy, told Hollyscoop.com at the Fox Reality Really Awards on Tuesday night.
Chmerkovskiy, 29, has reportedly been despondent since he called off their engagement, and it certainly hasn't helped matters that rumors abound of a romantic relationship between Smirnoff, 31, and her current dancing partner Aaron Carter.
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy: I'm Done with Karina
Originally posted 10/07/2009 02:30PM
Perhaps the only upside to being eliminated from Dancing with the Stars Tuesday for pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy is that he won't have to endure any more uncomfortable encounters on set with his ex- fiancée, Karina Smirnoff.
"I feel completely betrayed. I'm done," Chmerkovskiy tells PEOPLE of his relationship with Smirnoff.
Asked why he feels betrayed, he declined to elaborate, saying only, "I don't want to get into the specifics. Let's just leave it at I'm done."
The effects of the breakup touched Chmerkovskiy’s season nine partner, actress Debi Mazar, as well. "I'm giving him a lot of support and positive energy," she said recently.
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Maksim Danced for Karina During Their Emmys Performance
Originally posted 09/21/2009 11:20AM
Maksim Chmerkovskiy isn't her No. 1 man anymore, but he said he danced his heart out for ex-fiancé Karina Smirnoff's sake at their Emmy Awards performance Sunday night.
"Honestly the majority of what I did today was because I knew how big of a deal it was for her," he told PEOPLE at the Entertainment Tonight/PEOPLE after-party, adding that he’d agreed to perform with Smirnoff before they split and wanted to hold up his end of the bargain. "She wants this. She wants to see how she can excel. Dancing at the Emmys was such an amazing spotlight. I just wanted to make sure to give it to her even if it's the last thing I do. So I wanted to do the best job I could, but it was hard."
Hard because he's still smarting from their break-up, announced earlier this month.
"It's difficult, but we're trying to work it out," Chmerkovskiy said of their effort to maintain a friendship. As for the next season of Dancing with the Stars, he says don't expect any problems. "It's not about the show. It's just us. To me it was never about anybody else or the show. It was about us. That's what was important to me. We'll see how it goes."
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Karina Smirnoff: It's Easy to Stay Friends with Maksim
Originally posted 09/16/2009 03:00PM
Don't expect fireworks in the aftermath of the split between Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
"It's kind of easy to stay friends," Smirnoff told PEOPLE at the Pink Party to benefit the Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute in Santa Monica over the weekend. "We were friends for 14 years, before anything else. It will always remain this way. It's not difficult. We both think the world of each other."
Smirnoff, 31, and Chmerkovskiy, 29, both pro dancers on Dancing with the Stars, announced last week that they had broken up after being engaged for about eight months.
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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DWTS' Mark Ballas: Maksim is 'Upset' After Split
Originally posted 09/13/2009 11:15AM
Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy is still nursing a broken heart but is "doing okay" after his split with fellow dancer Karina Smirnoff, DWTS pal Mark Ballas tells PEOPLE
"He's doing okay but he's not happy," says Ballas, who spoke to Chmerkovskiy Wednesday night for several hours. "I know he loved Karina. He loved her very much."
Ballas says he doesn't know why his fellow dancers split but was "shell-shocked" when he learned the news. "I don't really know who made the decision but obviously he's upset," Ballas tells PEOPLE.
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Mark Ballas
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Newly Single Maksim: It's Life, I'm Moving On
Originally posted 09/11/2009 04:30PM
After his split from Karina Smirnoff, Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy is taking it one step at a time.
"It's life," Chmerkovskiy, 28, tells Entertainment Tonight. "You do your thing and then you move on."
Which will be easy, he says, because he'll so busy on the dance floor.
"This is probably the most seriously I've ever taken a season [on Dancing with the Stars], in light of everything that's happened," he says. "This is what I want to focus all my attention on."
Permalink | Filed Under: Breakups, Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Maksim and Karina: What Went Wrong?
Originally posted 09/09/2009 05:05PM
For many in show biz it's the time spent apart that kills a relationship. But for Dancing With the Stars pros Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, who split last weekend, the opposite proved true.
"They both knew when they had been spending more time together recently things weren't going so well," a source close to Smirnoff tells PEOPLE. "She's not devastated but it obviously hurts, she's angry. She'll always love him and respect him but she always knew in heart of hearts from the beginning of their relationship that he wasn't the one for her."
Chmerkovskiy, 29, and Smirnoff, 31, who had gotten engaged on New Year's Day in Las Vegas, couldn't get past a major hurdle: they didn't see eye-to-eye when it came to children, pals say
Permalink | Filed Under: Breakups, Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Maksim & Karina Split!
Originally posted 09/08/2009 02:50PM
It looks like Dancing With the Stars' Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be performing their next dances solo.
The pair, who just last month gushed about how they do everything together, have broken up after about a year, Smirnoff's rep tells PEOPLE.
"I can confirm that this is true," the rep says. No reason was given and the rep says no further statement would be issued. Chmerkovskiy's rep didn't immediately comment.
Permalink | Filed Under: Breakups, Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Karina and Maksim: We Do Everything Together
Originally posted 08/13/2009 09:50AM
Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy go to work together every day on Dancing With the Stars. Plus, they perform eight shows a week together during their summer stint in Broadway's Burn the Floor. But that doesn't mean they want their free time to be separate!
"We do everything together," says Smirnoff, 31, who got engaged to Chmerkovskiy, 29, on New Year's Eve.
Permalink | Filed Under: Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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Broadway Waylays DWTS Duo's Wedding Plans
Originally posted 07/25/2009 10:00AM
Put the wedding bells on hold, because Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff just don't have time to get married right now.
The Dancing with the Stars pro couple, who became engaged in December 2008, are planning to wait until next summer so that they can first meet work commitments – including their gust-star roles in the new Broadway dance show Burn the Floor, which previews this weekend and will tie them up until Aug. 16.
"We don't plan [the wedding]," Chmerkovskiy, 29, told PEOPLE on Friday at a sneak peek of Burn the Floor. "We're [working] 14 hours a day. This is our life right now."
Permalink | Filed Under: Dancing With the Stars, Karina Smirnoff, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
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