Toonces464

It might have gotten to me too if it were actually true. We've seen other partners "put their hand on his shoulder" and support him/calm him down/whatever he was implying many times before. The first one that comes to mind was when he melted down and Brandy had to choreograph their AT. And that was a partner who didn't even like him much. I don't doubt it was true. Same as it was true every other time he's said these things. I think it's sad. I actually would've liked to see Maks finally win one, but not under these circumstances. The fact he feels he needs to play these games with a partner who's the biggest ringer the show has ever seen just blows my mind. Not to mention the fact that the season has turned out to be all about him, not even about Meryl. How many times have we seen the "real Maks" now? LOL

Of course he is. He wants that trophy so bad it's seeping out of his pores, and she's his last real shot at getting it. If he needed to get down and lick her feet in the middle of Times Square, that's what he would do.

I wonder if the ratings drop was a combination of ALM, the 24 premiere and the feeling the winner this season has already been determined. I know a lot of my friends have already given this season up because they think Meryl and Maks have it in the bag and they got tired of seeing them overpimped and overscored.

Yes, I heard it too. You can also see her reach around behind Meryl and rub his back after they got their scores.

THIS! A thousand times this. I've been saying this since week 2. We get she can spin. She spins for a living. Teach her something new, Maks.

And it was Erin who asked him the question -- quite awkwardly, as if she nearly forgot the script and had to pull the microphone back after she remembered she forgot to say "constructive criticism." If there's anyone who wouldn't play along with helping to make Maks look bad, it's Erin. I think that whole exchange was orchestrated by Maks with an assist from Erin.

It was called "not a Rumba" because it wasn't a Rumba. And that's totally on Maks. I know he got away with it with the Foxtrot, but he had to know he'd get called out eventually on not choreographing the proper dance, especially after what happened to Charlie with his Rumba. Even Derek got called out with Nicole for not choreographing a proper Quickstep.

They'll be the first ones to tell you they're not moderators, it's their site and if you don't like the way they run it, don't go there.

One of the hosts in particular over there does not take kindly to anything that even remotely doesn't put Derek and his partners up on a pedestal. That's why I go there to read their scoops but have refrained from becoming a poster.

I'm sorry, did I say it did? I said that aside from Erin and Kirstie, he doesn't seem to interact much with any of his former partners and that the last celebrity he seemed to befriend was Kurt Warner. Again, I'm not talking about the occasional "hey how ya doing good luck" tweet. I'm talking about making and keeping actual friendships the way you see other pros do, Cheryl in particular. Based on his tweets and Instagram pictures, he hasn't spent Thanksgiving with Mel for at least the past few years.

I'm not talking about an outing or dinner during a season or an occasional good luck tweet. Val and particularly Cheryl interact with celebrities other than their own partners during the season, and continue to interact with former contestants long after they're done with the show. Maks rarely does. Then again, other than Erin and Kirstie, he barely seems to have anything to do with his own partners once their seasons are over.

I think that's exactly what Maks meant when he said that "all things combined" Meryl was his best partner ever. He likes her, they get along, they have fun together and she's a professional dancer so he can choreograph at a much higher level that he's used to and give her things to do where he doesn't have to worry about whether she can pull them off or it will all come together by show time. That comment actually struck me as the "professional" version of the whole thing he and Erin used to do about "Well, today we're married and tomorrow we're divorced and the next day we make up, blah blah blah." LOL One thing with Maks - he tends, more than any other pro, to get fully immersed in his partner every season. Rarely do you see him befriend any of the other celebrities or even offer public praise or compliments for anyone, follow them on Twitter, etc. The last time I remember him actually befriending another celebrity was Kurt Warner, who happened to be a friend of Erin's. Cheryl and Val in particular seem to make a lot of friends each season and Cheryl, more than anyone, seems to retain those friendships.

That's one reason I put little to no stock in online polls, etc. Certain fan bases power voting can definitely sway the results and the crazy part of Maks's fan base does not hide the fact they spend every waking moment voting over and over and over, All you had to do was look at his Twitter feed this weekend with that silly People poll about the hottest brothers. LOL

I would hope, considering their injuries, TPTB would let them know if they were being eliminated so they didn't have to put themselves at further risk and could just bow out due to the injuries.

I feel the same. I actually laughed out loud at that package before their Tango because it was so poorly acted .Neither should quit their day jobs to get into acting (are you listening Maks?).

It was Louis. Erin even talked about his comments in some interview she did. Tony and Cheryl also made comments about it during the season. There was also another interview (I can't remember if it was with Chelsea Handler or Ellen) where they asked Maks flat out if Erin was making him a better, happier person like everyone was saying. I would have to go back and watch the interviews again to remember everything that made me roll my eyes and think "Repeat!", but the comment Monday night that stood out to me was Maks talking about how everyone loves Meryl. Same stuff he spouted about Erin. The way I've heard the story is they had some huge blowup after the ESPY Awards that summer. By the time they made up, Maks had signed up to be the Ukrainian Bachelor but didn't tell her about it until the last minute. There was a period when they unfollowed each other on Twitter and had nothing to do with each other, but they seemed to make up and finally become friends again when Erin showed up at his birthday party. For me it's the fact that if Maks is going to win, I want to see him win on the talent and ability of his partner, not because he's played up some showmance to get a bunch of shippers riled up enough to vote. And the fact he's done it so many times already, it's starting to feel like he doesn't think he can win on merit. Mel was married so I'm not going to include her, but going back to Erin, all Maks's partners have been single. And he's played every angle from the "real thing" with Erin to actively encouraging the shipping (I still have nightmares about all those in-dance kisses with Kirstie) to subtle little insinuations that get people talking to doing nothing but not setting the record straight. At this point I'm half expecting him to announce a relationship with Meryl, not because there is one but simply because it's the only thing left he hasn't pulled in one of his showmances.

Finally made it over here. Hi everyone! I think Maks has done the showmance thing so many times that he's starting to run out of material. In the interviews last night, I heard him recycle a few lines he used with both Erin and Kirstie. Someone above mentioned the awkwardness of Erin's "I'm engaged" outburst. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed it because as much as she now seems to be trying to act like she and Maks were just partners, there are too many pros still around who were around back then and know exactly what went on between them and the ugly way it ended. And I think that contributes to some of the awkwardness in her interviews.That and I think she still has a bit of a thing for Maks herself, boyfriend or not. But regardless of that I think she's still a huge improvement over Brooke.