Bristol Palin claimed Maksim Chmerkovskiy “hated” her when she competed on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2010.
The daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin named the pro dancer as the person who “rolled their eyes at” her the most throughout Season 11 while appearing on “DWTS” alum Cheryl Burke’s podcast Monday.
“Oh, Maks. Oh, he hated me so much,” Bristol said on “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans.”
When Burke, 40, asked “why” Chmerkovskiy, 44, would “hate” her, the “Not Afraid of Life” author, 33, chalked it up to her controversial season and finishing in third place with her partner, Mark Ballas, despite receiving low scores from the judges and negative feedback from viewers.
“I don’t know. Probably just because we kept going though. I mean, [Chmerkovskiy] was real nice at the beginning, but it was one of those things where, like, as we kept going through, I definitely felt the tension from him,” she said.
“I forgot about that. Yeah, because the further we went along, the more it was like, oh gosh, OK.”
Although a rep for Chmerkovskiy did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment, they told Entertainment Weekly, “Maks doesn’t hate anybody. For [Palin] to say that would be a mischaracterization of his feelings.
“I think he and everyone else in America, 14 years ago, thought that he and Brandy were on their way to winning that year, if not coming into the finals. So there was a bit of disappointment when she leapfrogged him into the finals. It’s a competition. He’s very competitive and took it seriously.”
Actress Jennifer Grey and pro Derek Hough ended up winning the mirrorball trophy that season.
Despite her allegedly unpleasant experience with Chmerkovskiy, Bristol gushed about Ballas, 38, being a “very good” and “very supportive” partner.
“I was so thankful to be partnered with Mark because Mark was so sweet and very patient,” she told Burke.
The “Teen Mom OG” alum and Ballas even sparked romance rumors while dancing together, but she shut down the speculation at the time.
The pair went on to compete again as part of an all-star cast for Season 15 in 2012, but they were eliminated in week four after once again getting low scores from the judges.
Bristol first competed on the ABC series after being thrust into the spotlight when 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain made her mom, Sarah, 60, his running mate.
At the time, Bristol was 17 and pregnant with her first child. She subsequently got engaged to her high school boyfriend and the child’s father, Levi Johnston, but they split in 2010.
Bristol welcomed their son, Tripp, now 15, in December 2008, and she later gave birth to daughters Sailor, 8, and Atlee, 7, with her now-ex-husband, Dakota Meyer.
