Maks Chmerkovskiy Reveals How ‘DWTS’ Salary Fueled His Competitive Drive trucc

Maks Chmerkovskiy recently revealed that money impacted his “Dancing With the Stars” performances. The former “DWTS” pro shared how the paychecks and the need to get to the show’s semifinals fueled his competitive behavior.

 
Maks Chmerkovskiy Says He Was Motivated by Money on ‘DWTS’

In a June 2025 interview with Us Weekly, Chmerkovskiy gave some insight into the biggest motivation for him in the “Dancing With the Stars” competition — money.

“There’s definite ways to influence you to want to do your best and stay on and so I think that somebody like me, for example, that backfires,” he said.

The former “DWTS” pro continued, “Sometimes that competitiveness kicks in because on top of it, if I don’t keep making it week after week, I don’t get paid. And so now my time here becomes, like, ‘Now I’m wasting time.'”

Chmerkovskiy shared that making it to the semifinals meant he would get a “paycheck all 10 weeks.”

During his 15 seasons on “DWTS,” Chmerkovskiy made it to the finals five times and won season 18 with partner Meryl Davis.

Of his only win, he shared, “I don’t think I had a bonus. Maybe I didn’t. I dunno.” “The thing you know is how busy you are, how completely engulfed in the show you are. Especially at that time, I was under so much pressure to, like, ‘Oh, you have to win.'”

He called Meryl “an incredible partner,” adding, “And I think I was also at that time already ready to go all the way in that type of partnership.”

Chmerkovskiy also shared that the current pros’ contracts have likely “evolved” from when he was on the show.

“I don’t think [that’s] the case anymore. I think there are some guarantees,” he said.

The former “DWTS” pro noted that he “had some incredible partnerships with people who were a certain type.”

He explained, “Honestly, it’s whatever they want. They want to push themselves. They want to have a great time. They want to be athletically inclined. They want it to be more of a showmanship. It’s whatever you want, but I just want you to have a fantastic time.”

Chmerkovskiy Teases Potential ‘DWTS’ Return

Will Chmerkovskiy return to “Dancing With the Stars?

He hasn’t ruled it out.

“I think today I would come back.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s to judge or to dance, I think it’s just fun to even be in this situation,” he said.

Chmerkovskiy noted, “Who would’ve thought there were moments in talk about reminiscing. There were moments in my journey with ‘Dancing With the Stars’ that I’ve never thought that 20 years later I will be as part of it as I was.”