In an E!News interview, Chmerkovskiy claims he’s happy to have an advantage from partner Heather Morris’ background.
Before the cast leaks started for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars, no one thought Makim Chmerkovskiy and his partner would be the favorite. That was partially because he wasn’t even planning to be on the show at the time, but also because nobody thought there’d be a ringer bigger than Simone Biles. Enter Heather Morris. One look at her credentials, and you wonder if she should even be on this show as a celebrity.
Naturally someone was going to ask the pair of them about this. At least they don’t try some absurd denial of it. But when he got the chance to speak about it half a minute into a short E! interview, it turned out Maksim isn’t exactly sorry either:
He is right to call Dancing with the Stars “a hard show.” As the years have gone on, it’s become a harder and harder competition to win, as the standards have gone up and up. Heather certainly won’t be able to rest on her laurels, or the likes of Biles, Normani Kordei, and/or Erika Jayne can overtake her, and at least one of them will. Not that Maksim would let her anyway.
Also, at least he seems willing to submit to harsher scrutiny. Which they should get; the judges have always openly demanded more of the celebrities who can do more. This might lessen the unfairness of the competition a little bit.
But it won’t get rid of it. And while contestants have had advantageous backgrounds before, when one of them has even been on So You Think You Can Dance, you wonder if anything could.
Heather’s words about being nervous about performing live are interesting. That is one thing athletes like Biles and Nancy Kerrigan and singers like Kordei and Jayne do have over her. But in all likelihood she’ll master her nerves.
Next: Breaking Down the Dancing With the Stars Cast By the Odds
The 24th season of Dancing with the Stars premieres on ABC on March 20 at 8 p.m. ET.