Choreographer Chmerkovskyi, whose brother fled Ukraine, won on the American "Dancing with the Stars"

The day before, the 32nd season of the popular TV show "Dancing with the Stars" concluded in the United States, and the winner was Ukrainian-American dancer and choreographer Val (Valentyn) Chmerkovskyi, originally from Odesa. This marks the third victory for the artist on this show.

Valentyn Chmerkovskyi is the brother of the famous Ukrainian dancer Maksym Chmerkovskyi and an equally talented participant in the project. A video featuring the show's winners was posted on YouTube.

His partner on the project was 17-year-old Isabella Gomez. Speaking to journalists backstage, the Ukrainian joked that he would like the winner of the Latin dance show to be not only Chmerkovskyi and Shevchenko but also "a little bit of Gomez."

Valentyn Chmerkovskyi won "Dancing with the Stars" in America three times—in 2015, 2016, and 2023. However, he has participated in the show much more frequently. For instance, last year, the dancer with Ukrainian roots secured the second-place position, as he did in 2013.

In 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017, he earned the bronze medal. It's worth noting that "Dancing with the Stars" airs approximately twice a year in the United States.

Chmerkovskyi is a two-time world champion in Latin American dance (among juniors and seniors) and a 14-time US champion in Latin American dance. His family moved from Odesa to the United States in 1994. In 1996, his older brother Maksym and his father opened a youth dance studio in New Jersey, where he was one of the students.

Chmerkovskyi co-owns nine social dance studios under the Dance With Me brand.

In 2022, he was deeply concerned about Russia's attack on Ukraine. For about a month, all of his online activity was devoted to volunteering and posts about his brother, who was in Kyiv at the time.

Maksym Chmerkovskyi himself was not able to leave Ukraine immediately. Upon returning to the United States, he expressed his discomfort, stating that he felt ashamed to have departed the country on a train with only women and children. However, he chose not to take up arms to defend his homeland, and on March 4, he was seen walking on the beach with his wife.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that Maksym Chmerkovskyi had assisted his colleague Tetiana Denisova in the first days of the full-scale invasion, not anticipating that she would align herself with Russia. This development disappointed the dancer, although he was not surprised by his colleague's pro-Russian stance.

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