Andy DehnartDancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy will star in the first Ukrainian version of The Bachelor, and said he rejected ABC’s offer to be on its show.
Maksim said he “turned down the American version” because he didn’t think women on the US version were serious about finding love, while show sources are splitting hairs by telling EW that they met with him but never offered him the role.
Maksim writes on his blog, “The idea that I would find ‘the one’ on a TV show is something that I can’t ever fathom, but after speaking to producers I have realized that a show where characters are doing it solely for TV exposure simply would not work. Our audience would not understand it and the show would be a disaster. There has never been a show such as this in Ukraine and it makes me think that a first season would be the most ‘real’ as far as participant’s perception of ‘what its all about’ is concerned.”
He also addresses his previous comments that he wouldn’t do such a show. “Some of you remembered me saying that I would never do a reality show such a ‘Bachelor’ and calling me out as being a hypocrite. I remember saying that too, but I do believe that I am smart enough to tell who here is after some 15-minute fame and who is here for the right reasons. Time will tell if I am wrong in my choices in life, but those are MY choices, MY mistakes and MY achievements,” he wrote.
Finally, he said that his season 11 partner, Brandy, “helped me. … I am forever grateful to her. She truly was god-sent and I will never forget everything she did for me. Without her help I would probably not have lasted though all the injuries, ‘media issues’ and my grandmother’s death.”