Valentin Chmerkovskiy appeared on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 to promote his new book, "I'll Never Change My Name." He was interviewed by host Lara Spencer. Val talked about what it means to be an American while holding onto his Russian roots.

Val, who will turn 32 on March 24, and his older brother, Maksim, 38, came to the United States in 1994 with their parents. At the time, neither Val nor his brother Maks could speak a word of English. While living in Brooklyn, New York, they soon learned to speak English by watching television.

Val and Maks are best known for being "Dancing with the Stars" professional championship dancers. Val wants the public to know more about him and his heritage. Therefore, he wrote and is promoting his book that was released on March 6, the same day he appeared on "Good Morning America." He gifted the entire studio audience with a copy bearing the long official title: "I'll Never Change My Name: An Immigrant's American Dream from Ukraine to the USA to Dancing With The Stars."

About the Book

Val and his brother are very close.

Therefore, it is so appropriate that Maks wrote the foreword to his brother's book. Besides, Maks' heritage is the same as Val's with the same parents and the same profession and co-owners of nine dance studios around the country with six of them in the New York area where they live.

While the public has learned some things from the packages presented on "Dancing with the Stars," people will learn much more from the book.

Spencer read a few interesting things about Val during her interview with him. One thing that stands out is that Val became a very good friend of chief meteorologist Ginger Zee when she was his partner during Season 22 of ABC's dance competition show. Zee is on maturity leave with her second son, so she was not present to hear that Val said if they had met at another time under very different circumstances, he thinks he would have married her.

Memoir

Val's first book is his memoir. That's because it details his life so far. He points out where he has come from and where he hopes to go. He looks back on his childhood and the way his life was in Odessa, Ukraine until his Jewish family made a life for him in the United States.

In his book, Val gives a vivid timeline of how he adjusted to a culture that is so different from the one he migrated from. It was a sacrifice at the time for his parents to give up everything in order to give Val and Maks a better life in America. Val is very satisfied living in the United States. That's why he refuses to change his name like some Celebrities have done. He wants to keep his Ukranian name as a constant reminder of his past.
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