Dancing With the Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy admits that the elimination of his celebrity partner Debi Mazar resulted in a bit of relief for him, now that he has a break from working professionally with his ex-fiance Karina Smirnoff.
“It’s definitely easier,” the Ukranian-born ballroom dancer told
TV Guide Magazine after expressing his displeasure earlier this week over her rumored off-the-dance-floor relationship with show partner Aaron Carter, just weeks after the engagement was called off.
Now able to spend some time away from working with his ex each week, Chmerkovskiy said “I’m in a good place. I am working it out. I’m figuring my life out right now.”
Mazar said that while disappointed by her ouster, she also thinks the time off is a welcome relief for her partner. “I would say yes, and I say that as his friend,” she told TVGuideMagazine.com. “It’s probably good because Maks has a career in front of him. He hasn’t even discovered his own potential. I pushed him to go take acting classes, and I think that he wants a very old fashioned kind of romance. He’s a really good guy and I think that he’ll have that in the future. But he needs to focus on
him right now.”
And from the sounds of it, Chmerkovskiy will have plenty of professional diversions – in particular, he’s planning on revamping
Le Reve, the extravagant aquatic production at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino.
“I’ve had creative meetings with
Le Reve team,” he divulged. “I have spoken to [show creator] Franco Dragone. I’ve spoken to Steve Wynn. I’m going back to
Le Reve to work on updating the show - an amazing opportunity.”
“I have a lot of opportunities to expand,” Chmerkovskiy said of his plans for his
DWTS downtime. “I’m having meetings all day long. Not just having to do with Hollywood and this side, but I’m also a businessman, I’ve got studios…And I just can’t wait to go back on Broadway.”
The hoofer said he’s definitely entertaining an acting career, “but I just don’t want to disrespect the trade so I’m working on my acting skills and I’m trying to see where I can go with that.”