Maksim Chmerkovskiy is competing on Dancing with the Stars as a pro partner, however, he's dealing with a recent injury.

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Maksim is a 37-year-old ballroom dancer and choreographer, who has also served as a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars.

Maksim started Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars strong with his celebrity partner Heather Morris, however, when rehearsing for Week 2 of the competition, the 6'2" pro dancer injured his calf and had to undergo surgery.

Until Maksim is healed and ready to get back out there in the ballroom, Dancing with the Stars Troupe member Alan Bersten is filling in and performing with Heather, a former Glee star and backup dancer for Beyonce.

Below is a list of 6 facts Reality TV World has compiled about Maksim Chmerkovskiy:

- Maksim joined Dancing with the Stars in Season 2 and competed as a pro partner all the way up to Season 18 with the exceptions of Season 6, 16 and 17. He announced his DWTS retirement after winning Season 18 with Meryl Davis but returned five seasons later.

- He was born on January 17, 1980 in Odessa, Ukraine. His family immigrated to Brooklyn, NY in 1994, and with his father, Maksim opened up Rising Stars Dance Academy in New Jersey.

- Maksim broke his right leg in a skiing accident at age 13 and had a titanium rod put in to stabilize his leg. Doctors predicted he'd have long-term difficulties, but he recovered and started dancing again six months later.

- He previously choreographed a commercial for Propel water and provided choreography for Zendaya's music video "Neverland" from Broadway's Finding Neverland.

Maksim also landed minor acting roles in the TV Land series The Exes and three episodes of General Hospital in 2013 playing the role of Anton Ivanov.

- In 2011, Maksim starred on the Ukrainian version of The Bachelor and got to date many beautiful women. One year later, he hosted the Ukrainian version of the game show The Cube.

- Maksim is engaged to fellow Dancing with the Stars pro Peta Murgatroyd. The couple just welcomed their first child together, son Shai Aleksander, on January 4, 2017.

Before he began dating Peta in 2012, Maksim was engaged to DWTS pro Karina Smirnoff for nine months.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.