Maksim Chmerkovskiy is a Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer, Broadway star and actor. Maks first appeared on Dancing with the Stars on the second season as a professional dancer. Maks was on the series for 14 seasons and won the Mirrorball Trophy in 2014 with Olympic ice dancer, Meryl Davis. He left the series after the win but has returned to act as a guest judge and from season 23, much to the fans delight, returned to the dance floor. Known for being passionate, opinionated and vocal, he is regarded as one of the most successful, loved and well-known cast members from DWTS.

Maksim is originally from Ukraine and immigrated with his family to Brooklyn in 1994. He is Co-Founder of Dance With Me dance studios with eight high end social dance clubs nation-wide dedicated to first-rate dance instruction. Together with DWM instructors, Maks has produced and starred in Sway: A Dance Trilogy in New York and Miami.

Maks has appeared on multiple TV series including the upcoming Fuller House on Netflix and previously on General Hospital, Chasing Life and The Exes. He has appeared on Broadway in productions of Burn the Floor and Forever Tango.

Maks is married to Dancing with the Stars pro, Peta Murgatroyd and in January 2017 they had their first child, a son, Shai.