When Maksim Chmerkovskiy did not show up to dance with his partner Vanessa Lachey on the last episode of "Dancing With The Stars," host Erin Andrews merely said he was not there because of a personal matter. Alan Bersten was available to dance with Vanessa because Alan and his partner Debbie Gibson were eliminated last week. Vanessa received a score of 23 out of 30 from the judges. It was a fairly good score, but it was Vanessa's lowest score of the season when she had been dancing with Maks. Fans of the show are concerned about the rumors since Maks has been a professional dancer on "DWTS" 17 of the 25 seasons.
The rumors
The rumor is that Maks and Vanessa are not getting along. Radar Online reports that Maks refused to dance with Vanessa because of some serious chemistry issues they are experiencing during rehearsals. In fact, they have been fighting because the 36-year-old mother of three is very difficult to work with. She thinks Maks is bossing her when he coaches her, and she doesn't want to be submissive. She wants to choreograph her own dances, design her own outfits and even select the music for their dance routines.
The disharmony between Maks and Vanessa is unfortunate on several levels. Vanessa's husband, Nick Lachey, is also a contestant, and he is partnered with Maks' new wife, Peta Murgatroyd, which might be affecting both Nick and Peta.
It is also making the other contestants uncomfortable. Another rumor is that producers have threatened to fire Maks if he doesn't return to the ballroom next week.
Rumor might not be true
The 37-year-old professional dancer posted on social media a thank you note to Alan for replacing him last week. He added that he will return to dance with Vanessa next week.
Vanessa also thanked Alan on social media and said she is looking forward to Week 4 when she and Maks will bring something exciting to the dance floor. Vanessa tried to put the rumor to rest by speaking out to "Us Weekly." She said during rehearsals she lets Maks take the lead because he is her coach. ABC has confirmed that Maks and Vanessa will dance together next week.
Maks with a former partner
No rumor like this has ever been spread before when one partner couldn't stand the other one to the extent of one not showing up. Maks and Hope Solo were partnered together during Season 13 and made it to the semi-finals. However, in an interview on "The Real" after the season was over, he went so far as to say he hated the soccer player. Solo wasn't fond of her dance partner either. She wrote about Maks in her 2012 book where she accused him of being rough with her during rehearsals.
