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Congratulations are in order for Dancing with the Stars pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy! After a month of swirling pregnancy rumors, the reports are finally confirmed — this engaged twosome is expecting their first child together!
Murgatroyd, 29, and Chmerkovskiy, 36, got engaged in December and are thrilled to already be expanding their family, People reports. “I can’t wait to provide this baby with the tools to become a beautiful, kind person,” Chmerkovskiy says in the current issue of the magazine, also revealing that the duo learned they were expecting just a few weeks into season 22 of Dancing with the Stars. “I was so sick,” Murgatroyd said of her first months of pregnancy.
“I’m looking forward to nurturing something and just having the baby be the center of our world,” Murgatroyd said. “I’m looking forward to putting all our energy into this beautiful soul.”
Photo: Courtesy Peta Murgatroyd via Instagram
Just last week, the mom-to-be shared a fitspo Instagram showing off her tiny, ab-clad baby bump with a little exercise tip for her fans and followers. “Fit Tip: If you’re one of those people who has trouble keeping focused throughout your cardio workout (yes, running on a treadmill is somewhat mundane), try and incorporate weights throughout your cardio. Break it up and do 15 mins cardio and 15 mins weights, REPEAT until you are officially dead!”
The couple still doesn’t know whether they’re having a boy or girl, but “we’ll be in trouble with a little me running around,” Chmerkovskiy joked. “So hopefully they’ll be a lot like Peta.”
The engaged twosome, who is planning a wedding for summer 2017, admits that they weren’t envisioning starting a family until after they tie the knot — but they’re still happy as can be.
“The timing is perfect, actually,” Murgatroyd said. “I’ll have the baby in January and then I’ll still have about six months to prepare for the wedding.”
“The baby will make a wonderful addition to the wedding party,” Chmerkovskiy added. “A wonderful, tiny addition.”
The couple has been open about their desire for children. “I would like to start [having kids pretty soon. A little boy, and then a little girl,” Murgatroyd said right after their whirlwind engagement.
The road to married life (and now parenthood) wasn’t always an easy one; Murgatroyd’s first thoughts on her fiancé were less-than-stellar at first. “I thought he was arrogant. I learned to like him because I found out he wasn’t that arrogant. He was really generous to the entire cast, and our friendship grew and grew,” she admitted. The dancing duo worked together as friends for a long time — including when Chmerkovskiy was engaged to DWTS pro Karina Smirnoff and Murgaroyd was dating DWTS cast mate Damien Whitewood.
But her fiancé doesn’t agree with her first impression sentiments, retorting, “Okay, that’s a defense mechanism. I think she was in love with me at first sight and just doesn’t want to admit it.” And it seems Murgatroyd’s change of heart was the real deal, because she has been totally smitten ever since — even when Chmerovskiy tried to break things off after less than a year of dating! “My heart was broken. But when we were driving to the airport after the breakup talk, he literally asked me why I was taking all my bags and clothes back. I was like, ‘We just broke up. Why would I leave anything behind?’ That’s when I knew it wasn’t really over for forever.”
Luckily for the two, who met when they were cast in the Broadway production Burn the Floor, the breakup lasted less than three months, and the stars aligned (no pun intended). In December, while on the dance floor during DWTS (because, where else?), Chmerovskiy proposed with a gorgeous engagement ring in front of their fellow costars and the shocked viewers around the world on live television. The life-changing moment was caught on tape, luck for us.
“I wanted it to be kind of like a surprise for everybody,” the professional dancer shared. “Everybody had an amazing moment that was very unforgettable and things like this need to be unforgettable. It needs to be special.”