Bristol Palin claims ‘DWTS’ pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy ‘hated’ her — and he responds
Bristol Palin isn’t dancing around the truth.
The 33-year-old recently opened up about the “tension” she felt while competing on Season 11 of “Dancing With the Stars.”
On the Sunday episode of Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, the former “DWTS” pro asked Palin “who rolled their eyes” at her and partner Mark Ballas when they got “saved” during elimination.
And the daughter of 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin didn’t hold back.
“Oh, Maks?” Palin replied. “He hated me so much,” noting that the moment was “recorded” by cameras.
The reality star pointed the finger at Maksim Chmerkovskiy, a former series regular, who competed during Palin’s season with singer Brandy.
“Why did he hate you?” Burke, 40 — who was partnered with Rick Fox at the time — asked.
“[It was] probably just because we kept going through,” Palin admitted. “I mean, he was real nice at the beginning, but it was one of those things where as we kept going through.”
In 2010, Chmerkovskiy, 44, and Brandy, 45, were eliminated despite high scores all season. Palin and Ballas, 38, advanced one round further and placed third.
The author added, “I definitely felt the tension from him. I forgot about that. Because the further we went along in it, the more it was like, ‘Oh gosh, OK.'”
Chmerkovskiy’s rep released a statement to The Post responding to Palin’s claims.
“Maks doesn’t hate anybody and he’s never hated Bristol. His bad boy reputation was overblown by the media at the time,” the statement read on Tuesday. “He was really good at dancing and he was really competitive, which are two important qualities you need to be on ‘Dancing With the Stars.‘ Maks was disappointed because he and Brandy were on their way to win that year. He and everyone else in America were taken by surprise.”
The former “Teen Mom OG” star received backlash throughout Season 11 due to Palin consistently receiving low scores but continuing to progress week to week.
At the time, “Today” reported that a Wisconsin man named Steven N. Cowan had allegedly shot a round into his television screen when Palin moved on to the next round because he “did not think that she was a good dancer.”
Palin and Burke also discussed the tension between the Texas resident and Ballas, which was aired in a pre-show segment when the two returned for the “All Stars” season in 2012.
“I think we were disagreeing on how much effort was being put in. I think we just weren’t taking it seriously,” she reflected. “Like, I think I wanted to actually take it seriously and rehearse more. And I think that’s probably what the conversation was.”
The “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp” alum also touched on being bullied after starring on the ABC series for the first time at only 19 years old.
“It was hard. It was really hard. And I mean, my weight fluctuates,” Palin told Burke. “It was like everyone was talking about my weight, and then I was stressed out about my weight. I felt like I was just eating even more and gaining even more weight. It was just like a vicious cycle and it affected my confidence so much for years to come because it was such a topic.”
She also recounted Kathy Griffin, 63, allegedly making fun of her on “some show,” and comparing her to the “white version of ‘Precious.’ ”
“It was all over the news for a while. It just bugs me so bad because I would be so upset if somebody was talking about my daughter like that,” the Alaska native continued. “Obviously I knew I was gaining weight, and just for her to say something like that was, ‘Oh, OK.’ ”
As for how Bristol landed “Dancing With the Stars” three years after getting pregnant at 17 with her eldest son Tripp, now 15, with ex-fiancé Levi Johnston?
“Immediately after high school, I started working at this doctor’s office, so I’m at this doctor’s office, and it must have come from like an email,” Bristol — who also shares daughters Sailor, 8, and Atlee, 7, with ex-husband Dakota Meyer — recounted.
“And they were like, ‘Hey, we need you to get on a call, we want you to join,’ ” she said. “So I was in my boss’ office and talking to them on the phone, and then they just offered to do it, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ ”
“My boss was very supportive, he let me come and go both times I was on ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ Very encouraging, so I just decided to do it. I had zero representation, nothing!”
Burke then dropped a fun fact that some viewers may not know. The producers also asked Bristol’s dad, Todd Palin, to be on the show.
Although he turned it down, Bristol noted, “That would have been hilarious.”
The Post has reached out to Chmerkovskiy’s rep for comment.
