Wendy Williams Interviews Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
And guess what – Meryl straight up says they’re not dating. :::cue hearts breaking all over shipperland::: Maks even goes so far as to say “they needed that” in reference, I think, to the faux kissing and romance. And I’m not criticizing – that is an element of SOME of the dances. I think it is a shame that it’s now all anyone focuses on. The woman can DANCE, yet all we hear about is the showmance – and that’s largely due to their choices, in addition to the shippers. But the faux kiss as a choreographic crutch got a bit out of hand – the shippers don’t get ALL the blame.
ETA: Vogue here. You can read a new interview with Meryl at TV Guide as well. I love the question they asked her about working with Maks and Derek…
How do you think working with Maks might change how you approach routines with Charlie?
Davis: Just from a basics standpoint, learning the different styles of dance I did can only help. I’ve taken ballet, but I’ve never danced on the floor for the sake of dancing on the floor. I’ll take a lot back on the ice with me.You talked a lot about coming out of your shell. Will that also change your partnership with Charlie?
Davis: I was very shy when I was younger, but I haven’t been shy for many years now. But this additional experience will definitely help.What was the major difference you found between working with Maks vs. Derek ?
Davis: They are two very different people with different personalities, but both are insanely brilliant. It’s funny, I worked with the two of them at the same time for the team dance and I had been telling Maks that seeing the two of them interact and suggest choreography to one another was such a cool experience to see.
More at TV Guide.
ETA2: TV Guide now has a new interview up with Maks. Here is a take where he talks on their relationship and more.
You guys have gotten a lot of mileage out of the romance speculation. How much of that was played up for show? Set the record straight.
Chmerkovskiy: Our relationship is very real. She’s incredible. It’s going to go beyond Dancing with the Stars for sure. … As far as what everybody is asking romantically, these things will never be answered by me. You’re going to see things in tabloids and pictures, and you have people gossiping and making up their own stories, but I will never speak about my personal life.The show really milked it too.
Chmerkovskiy: I think the show never had a couple like Meryl and me. … We had these stories on the floor that gave a completely new depth to our show. Between what we did and what Derek was able to do with Amy, this season has been absolutely remarkable. We had unbelievable dancers. … Nobody, I think, came close to Meryl and me, just by sheer passion. That passion, that togetherness and that look in each other’s eyes — yes, some of it was necessary for the dances to be what they needed to be from a performance standpoint. Most of it was coming from a very real spot. We connected right away and it was extremely creative.Almost every season without fail, there’s a huge Maks temper tantrum midway. You got frustrated this season, but it never went over-the-top.
Chmerkovskiy: One thing that was amazing this season was I felt a lot of support. This was the first time I was like, “So that’s what it feels like when people are rooting for you.” I didn’t feel any different as far as treatment, like, “You get any production piece you want.” But I felt that people genuinely wanted to see me succeed, and that gave me a lot of confidence. There were tense moments, but that tension wasn’t produced in the form of, “He’s the bad guy” again. It was more, “This stuff is getting to him because it’s so close and so real.”
I am glad she finally said something. I know the shippers will not believe it. I blame the show & Maks/Meryl for playing up the romance between them. The last two shows took the showmance way to far.
Was Meryl just fed up with the same question and decided to finally blurt out that they are not dating? Maks said that they needed the fake showmance in order to win?
I wonder if they would’ve won without the fake showmance? Plenty of people have won without one!
Hey Heidi, I’m aware this is off-topic, but I have a serious question: as the leader of the Legion of Hough, do you have a coherent explanation as to how Derek and Shawn could have possibly lost the All Star season? I wasn’t following very closely but it seemed very bizarre to me that the show’s most popular pro and one of the most popular celebs to ever compete lost to an unpopular pro and a celeb who came in *third* in her own season.
It seems more or less impossible. Do you have an explanation other than “Everyone assumed Shawn would win so nobody bothered voting for her”? I felt as though you’d likely be a person who’d have both insight and a firm opinion on this. Thanks.
Yes, Meryl can dance BUT, that’s not impressive much because she recently won Olympic gold medal in ice dancing. Her chemistry with Maks, on the other hand, was different.
I’ve seen DWTS long enough to recognize a showmance when I see one, don’t know why people fall for the same BS every time.
Wow – another interview totally about Maks! I never felt any chemistry whatsoever from them but apparently many of my friends did so I guess the showmance worked.
Please, dear God – NO to Maks being a permanent judge. He’s not a very articulate person and I didn’t think he did such a great job last time. Derek – please, please leave the show and spread your wings – especially if Maks is there permanently. I hope they get rid of Carrie Anne as well – she really bugged me this year.
I honestly don’t see chemistry between Meryl and Maks, although I know just about everyone else says they do. I saw more chemistry (not saying romantic chemistry) between Amy and Derek. You could tell they really liked and respected each other. Maks treated Meryl more like Charlie treated his cane. JMO
Actually, to me it seemed like she siad that to get out of the question. I mean, the interviewer was being REALLY rude. I felt uncomfortable for them. On the other interview, when Kelly Ripa said she liked them as a couple, they were all smiles and hugs. That was the first time they said they’re not dating and it was under a specially stressfulf interview.
lol It’s hilarious how many people bought that they were dating. Someone commented that they are more like father and daughter which would be more believable.
Easy, Steve. It’s less about Shawn and more about Melissa and Tony – and it’s also what helped this season. It was the all star season and a popular girl who everyone liked was up against two women who had already won AND against two pros who had already won. People have all kinds of reasons why they vote for who they vote for – an the “under dog” factor is HUGE. Hell, that’s normally who I root for on shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race. I’m certainly not immune. Rarely does the “best dancer” win, it’s also about a dozen other factors.
We said before the season started that it could turn out like that. The SMART thing to do would have been to get ALL previous winners (how can one be an all star if you’ve never won – you certainly can’t be the “champion of champions” if you were never a champion to begin with) or NO previous winners. Having a mixed bag heavily weighted it in the favor of a non-winner. What did we hear EVERYWHERE, even from Derek himself, this season?? It’s nice to see Maks finally win.
LOL
The shippers will be in denial. After some more time passes, some will move on to ship other stuff that catches their fancy, others will get angry and leave hate messages once they are found with someone else, and yet others will continue being in denial. It is sad how badly the reality can be warped to get to your end goal and people actually fall for this shit. Thanks TPTB!
So, when asked an uncomfortable question you LIE?? That makes no sense, Natalie. She had no problem NOT answering the question about if she had a boyfriend – which was a different answer than if she was with Maks. LOL.
This is the argument I always have with shippers. They are so convinced something is going on that they will find any way to excuse an outright denial. If she was dating Maks, why not give the same answer she gave to the boyfriend question? It’s interesting – she has no problem saying “No, we’re not” but won’t say if she has a boyfriend – it’s the same topic, so….seems to me that she’s being honest.
Meryl’s had years of practice handling personal, pushy questions about her love life. Wendy Williams doesn’t have the power to fluster her into a lie.
Was this really a surprise. I never for a second thought that they were an item. What surprised me is that she wnt along with it which completely
changed my opinion of her.
At Access Hollywood when Charlie and Sharna were asked the same question the two of them went to a circular explanation of why people should not believe what they are being fed without actually saying there was nothing
in the showmance.
But I’m sure the shippers will believe what they want to believe. Tanith is front and center at DWTS and yet people still believe Charlie and Meryl are “secretly in love”. Give me a break.
This is what happened to viewers who can easily be manipulated about showmanceship. If they want to see romance, watch the bachelor/bachelorette. I want Derek to come back next season because the show won’t be the same without him, but I also want him to expand his career outside the show. Can someone tell Kenny Ortega to remake Dirty Dancing starring Derek? This guy can act y’all. I remember even Jennifer Grey once said Derek belongs in movies.
I’m hoping Maks and Tony don’t comeback. And Maks as a judge?…yeah, he’ll be good…NOT!
Wendy doesn’t mess around, does she? I have to wonder how Maks feels about the showmance being the focal point of his season. A mirror ball is a mirror ball?
I will be surprised if he’s not sitting in the Len’s seat next season, albeit pleasantly so. As many have speculated, I think this win was a primer. I believe there was more to it than just getting poor Maks a mirror ball to bring home to mama.
Thiana, I’m about 90% sure that Derek had the lead role in the Dirty Dancing remake with Kenny as director before the studio shelved the project. There is a laundry list of evidence pointing to that fact.
@PH: oh no, any reasons why? Too bad, because in my opinion he’s a better actor than Julianne. As for new judge, can we get Shirley Ballas? She has a far better resume than Maks.
Ugh..why does Meryl even go to these interviews anymore…she’s more of an accessory than a guest. They could’ve put a plant in her seat and no one would have noticed. I have yet to see an interview where SHE even has one question focused on her. Why are they even showing the people mag shoot to her. It has NOTHING to do with her. When there are two people being “interviewed” you include them both. Not stroke ones ego and let the other watch. I felt uncomfortable for the entire 4 and a half minutes. Meryl stop doing these interviews and move on…..with your boyfriend!
I don’t know why the studio shelved it – could be any number of reasons including that they didn’t think the timing was right.
I almost feel bad for the shippers who are tripping over themselves trying to justify this interview and why it really means they’re dating.
And the ones outraged by the questions. Not much different than Chelsea Handler asking Erin and Maks if they were penetrating.
If meryl does have a boyfriend, I don’t know if she would be a part of that much overt showmance. The extent of m and m was just sooo much, it would be almost disrespectful to her bf. meryl and Charlie were never that bad. I was convinced that both meryl and make had to be at least single…. Then again, maybe the standards are diff for performing/ showbiz people.
I feel sorry for Meryl, she is not getting any recognition for all her hard work. The interview was just a disaster and I think she should stop doing them as well. All they care about is Maksim and his career goals. Meryl is just a beautiful prop.
Best idea all season…….Shirley Ballas as judge.
I like Shirley Ballas. Another bonus is that her voice is very calming. 😀
I really like Shirley Ballas and believe she would be fair but it would be inappropriate for her to be a judge. It’s a conflict of interest with Mark and Derek still there. As for Maks being a judge, no no and no. He’s soooo bias when it comes to his “fam”, there’s no way he should be a judge. I just hope it’s not already a done deal.
I’m probably in the minority around here, but I would not mind at all if Maks came back to replace Len. He has the ballroom credentials that so many people clamor about and I *think* he’d be reasonably fair so as not to appear too biased. Plus the best part about him is looking at him, so I could just mute him and not have to worry about watching him do crappy choreography. But really, he’s a pretty funny guy and if he could properly channel it, I think it’d be interesting. HOWEVER, I do think TPTB agenda would have him as the “bad boy judge” to shake things up.
But I’d also love Shirley Ballas, and I believe she’d be more than unbiased, or err on the side of being TOO harsh on the likes of Derek and Mark.
@Minnie I believe she has a boyfriend, and she was involved in a showmance with Maks for votes. If you have instagram, check out the picture her rumored boyfriend just posted of them together; I promise it will change your mind.
Thank goodness I didn’t click on the video and just read what Princess Heidi and the readers wrote. Now I have no desire to watch the video. Like what everyone above me said, shippers believe what they want to believe. I put part of the blame on CAI who claimed every chance she got that M and M have such amazing (romantic) chemistry. Top that with Monday night’s comment on getting married, and what do we get? Shippers’ “proof” that indeed, the two are dating because a DWTS judge said so. Meryl saying otherwise in this interview will just be ignored.
OK on the chemistry topic and the romantic dances, here is a quote from an interview with Meryl’s mom. Her response to the reporter’s remark on Meryl’s sultry and sexy dances:
“He is bringing it out of her. The two of them together. I was very proud of her. It just shows me what she is made of. She is so strong and determined to do things right. She has always wanted to be artistic, she has always wanted to show that side of herself.”
Also, at the question of why this sensual side of her didn’t come out before on ice:
“We asked her about that,” Cheryl Davis said. “She said, when on the ice, the technical is what is important. You have to have the technical score. You have to watch your edges. You have to have everything in the right place. You practice the same dance for a year. It gets to the point where it’s robotic. It’s the same dance, all year long.
[…] But this is more emotional. She can let herself go and she’s not as inhibited.”
And Charlie’s mom: “All of us were thinking the same thing. ‘Wow! Where did that come from?’ Not just me. Her parents. Everybody who knows her. She was so free, not a fear in the world, just having a great time and having a blast. It’s been fun and exciting, kind of a joyful feeling.”
Anyways… the heck with the media and the producers of DWTS. I don’t think Meryl played the game for votes. I believe she established a great connection with Maks which let her express herself freely and fully in dance styles and using dance moves that are so different than what she does on ice.
And she had nothing to lose… she did not need to be guarded as it wan’t a professional competition. She could just experiment with her moves and feelings and various characters of the dance. The fact that she said she likes the foxtrot, tango, rumba and freestyle the most is again another clue that she really wanted to let her feeling out through dance.
Anyways… I loved many of their routines and the chemistry between them. Glad for youtube.
Maybe I can believe it that she did not play it for votes if all her “artistic tendencies and aspirations”were all confined on the dance floor. However we were all treated to PDA’s off the floor and when being interviewed every week – playing it coy with hints that there are more than what it should be.
I found Maks statement about “wanting to ravage her and having kids with her” to be over the top and really tacky to tell you the truth and she was okay with it. And then voila! After they got the Mirror Ball they can now tell people that they are not dating. Please.
I once saw an interview where M & C were asked about the differences in their personalities. I think it was Charlie who said that Meryl is the perfectionist, the one who would tend to insist on practicing something over and over and over & Charlie said he would be the one who would say, ok, we got it. Time to move on. That’s kind of a clue to me of who might be the most rigid and intensely focused when it comes to competing for something you’ve spent your whole life working towards. This silly Mirror Ball Trophy show? Truly not life or death or rather, not career damaging or ending so why not see how it feels to do it differently.
I tend to agree that it’s one thing to let if fly in the ballroom during the performance but all of the hanging all over each other the rest of the time? That’s a choice of a different nature.
And when it comes to Wendy Williams, well the few times I’ve seen her even refer to Meryl (or Charlie) it was to rant on how unfair it was that they were in the competition at ALL, so I would never consider her an unbiased interviewer. Plus, that brash, in your face approach, seems to be her style anyway.
To each their own. I did not feel deceived by their familiarity and touchy-feely moments off the dance floor. They were all part of their experience. They couldn’t produce the chemistry on the dance floor without building their bond off the dance floor as well.
Heck, when Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling short Blue Valentine they had to live together in the same house for a month to reach the level of intimacy needed for shooting the raw scenes of the movie. And they loved the experience because it made the performance so much better.
And what is the problem with a little PDA? Do they have to be married or to officially date in order to have fun? Do they need to keep everything behind close doors? I am so happy that Meryl had a blast on DWTS with a guy that, as Emma put it on Afterbuzz, makes you feel like a woman. And Maks probably made Meryl feel like a very special woman. Good for her, after being so focused and working so hard with Charlie for the olympic gold.
Agreed Ria, just feel bad for Charlie for having to sit through the trash talk.
Agreed Ria, just feel bad for Charlie for having to sit through the trash talk.
Of course it was for votes. We all heard him say it was necessary and he clearly turned it on every time the camera panned to them.
I think Meryl’s experience and partnership on DWTS is completely separate and should reflect nothing on her professional partnership with Charlie. I’m sure nothing has changed between Charlie and Meryl, and that they will continue their fantastic dancing on the ice the same way if not better after this experience.
One thing I noticed when Charlie and Meryl danced on the finale is the distinct grace, elegance and class both of them displayed during the dance, and especially when bowing to the applause of the audience. That is who they are as a pair, that is how they probably were and will always be with each other. Meryl totally transitioned back to her professional persona, knowing that in the end that dance is representative of C&M partnership.
Each partnership is unique and cannot be compared. Like relationships.
Shirley Ballas would be perfect for head judge!
Anna #32, I agree, to each his own. And to MY own, after 10 weeks of M&M being glued to each other any time a camera was on them all I felt was the creepy crawlies. That, and I KNEW there was going to be AT LEAST 5 seconds of standing completely still in a “near kiss” pose during their dance. Like I said on another post, that’s pretty much ALL I remember of their dances. One long walking/running to each other, only to stop just short in a near kiss. I don’t begrudge her the win just everything that seemed to be put into making sure she GOT that win.
The thing is, if this had been the first of the showmance-type behavior, then perhaps it wouldn’t have seemed so icky and forced. I do believe Meryl and Maks have a good, friendly, and respectful relationship. But they went out of their way to play the showmance card and it was just so unnecessary, blatant, and off-putting. The almost kisses, Maks talking about their relationship in vague terms “I hope that whatever our relationship is, will continue after the show” blahblahblah, the judges playing into it – we’ve all seen it before – Maks is one of the biggest repeat offenders – and it just reeks of desperation and disingenuous sentiment. Gross.
The worst of it is that I like them together, minus all that crap. They didn’t need it. But they went the sleazy route and it just makes me gag.
#39
She cuddled and burped him off the floor. I’m so glad there was no diaper fetish involved. And then did the “almost kisses” on the floor. You see, that’s how you get the best out of the shippers. 😉 Yuck!!!
Who knows, I think they can cover up what they truly have to guard their privacy. They could also deny it because they aren’t ready yet to go into it fully since they just got out of the show and see what develops over period of time. Has Maks played this romance with the partner in the seasons, I do not think so. Nor do I think he would play this just to win for crying out loud! You could say the same thing for James and Peta. Viewers and everyone sees a connection but they do not want to put expectations in something that may or may not happen. But they definitely do have a bond, so hopefully it will continue.
Actually,
A long tim a ago, Erin said she was annoyed with Maks for implying to the public that they were together. There was an interview about the use of the bed in their finale dance and Maks made some off-hand comment to the effect it wasn’t the same bed they use at home and Erin shot him a quick look like wtf? I remembered that interview because back then, I though they were together and years later Erin said that look she gave him was because she was ticked, they weren’t an item, never were and Maks wanted to get attention for them so he said that without asking her if she minded and so she was stuck going with it or looking stupid.
So yes, Maks has done this before. And I agree with those that say it was totally unnecessary.
Heh, Angie, that’s exactly what I remember of their dances too. I may even make a video of all the faux kissing and walking just to make the point. And people said Amy didn’t dance?? When I stack the two sets of dances side by side, I see more dancing from Amy than from Meryl – or at the very least, much more creative choreography. It would have been easy for Derek to play the showmance angle with Amy as a work around to her having prosthetics, but instead he was a genius (as usual) and choreographed some great dances. Hell, even Peta and James didn’t play into the showmance angle – and good for them!! That’s actually growth on Peta’s part.
The thing that really makes it annoying in terms of Meryl and Maks was that it was SO UNNECESSARY!! She’s a great dancer! But whatever works, I guess. Leave no stone un-turned.
:::sigh::: Shippers. There’s no talkin’ to ’em.
Listen, when you have to twist yourself into knots to explain away the outright denial that two people are dating by ONE of those people…you have a problem. You’re too invested.
I’ve seen this happen a million times. It will soon get ugly when people really realize they were fooled OR they will go for years believing there is true love there.
I never heard an interview with Erin where she stated she was annoyed with Maks, It was when Erin and Maks were getting there feedback from the judges after their freestyle and Carrie Ann told them there was a mishap on the bed and Maks stated that it wasn’t the bed they rehearsed on and Erin agreed and when they tried to explain they were cut off. In interviews after the finale Maks and Erin explained what Maks had meant.
In all the packages and interviews with Erin in the skybox, Meryl and Maks have stated they have a very close friendship, never heard them state otherwise. Listen to the OTRC interview with Karina about Maks and Meryl, loves what she says about chemistry on the dance floor.
“Who knows, I think they can cover up what they truly have to guard their privacy. They could also deny it because they aren’t ready yet to go into it fully since they just got out of the show and see what develops over period of time.”
This exact quote, and a million derivatives of it, has been uttered countless times about couples that never happened on DWTS. We have always known who Maks has dated – he’s not very good at keeping those things secret, nor would most males if they were dating Karina, Peta, Kate Upton, etc. This is not some ploy to keep their relationship and feelings to themselves, out of the public’s eye. They don’t have anything other than a good friendship, and I’ll eat crow if I’m ever proven wrong. But I know I’m talking to closed ears, because I don’t think I’ve ever been able to convince a shipper that they were mislead. It’s a realization they have to come to themselves.
#42 Ashley, Erin played that showmance as much as, if not more, than Maks did. And she continued to play coy for months after the season ended. Their showmance wasn’t all on Maks. Her denials of a real relationship between them didn’t start until Maks became the Bachelor Ukraine. Then she couldn’t get enough camera and print time to deny it.
Just because you didn’t hear it, Shelly, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And you can be annoyed with someone you are close friends with. It’s called adulthood.
I give the shippers about another week of the “honeymoon phase” of Meryl & Maks’ post-win press tour, then the hype is gonna die down dramatically, these two won’t be seen together everyday, and the shippers are gonna end up with one massive hangover when they realize there was nothing going on all along. And trust, if there was something TRULY going on – Lounge Lizard Grubman would have already milked it for all it was worth, had these two plastered over every tabloid, and held a goddamn press conference to announce their relationship. She’s a pretty heavy-handed PR gal, and she never misses an opportunity to exploit & exaggerate.
You can have chemistry on the dance floor and not have a romantic relationship or intentions. The few ballroom lessons I took, my teacher and I had amazing chemistry – we were just two goofs and appreciated each other’s company. But everyone stated how great we looked together, how natural, etc – and that was after only like five lessons! Too bad I didn’t love his studio’s instruction style (and cost) or I would have kept up with it. Still intend to one of these days – if anyone has any recommendations for studios in Chicago 🙂
@Fig – Gonna go out on a limb here, but was it an Arthur Murray school? 😛
I know I’ve brought it up before, but I remember the Mark and Bristol shippers following the news to see if and when they were going to be in the same STATE since it meant that they were obviously making wedding arrangements and stuff. It went on for months, although only the most fervent were still hoping against hope. Then the backlash AGAINST Mark for daring to be seen with another woman – whoa whoa whoa. Anything he did after that would prove how Bristol had realized how unworthy he was and she had rejected him. Lordy.
Hahaha Courtney ding ding ding! You are absolutely correct. I realized that the amount I was paying was not worth their style of teaching, even though I liked my instructor’s personality a lot.
@Fig – Arthur Murray is NOTORIOUSLY overpriced, and I find the majority of their instructors to be less qualified than I am to be teaching dance. BF works for Fred Astaire, and I much prefer their teaching style & pricing.
I would have paid the outrageous pricing if I thought I was getting value out of it, but I wasn’t – and then I did more comparison shopping and realized what price gougers that studio was.
I just looked up Fred Astaire and will check them out. How are their teaching styles different?
#49 Courtney, that was my first thought when I read this morning’s article in Us about how Maks and Meryl aren’t dating YET – Meryl sure screwed up Lizzie’s meal ticket for the summer with her denial yesterday.
I think it is hilarious that the media cares about nothing but the smooshing given the caliber of Meryl’s talent. Serves MnM right for making that the centerpiece of their season.
And, yes, Maks and Erin milked it for some time, which is why I was surprised to hear Meryl come clean so soon.
PH … you are so right about the lounge lizard :o). When Maks was dating Peta, there were many pictures of them plastered all over the internet. Same when he was dating Kate Upton. With Meryl it was just a fake showmance and now she admitted they’re not dating, the shippers and CAI really look like big fools.
@Fig – Fred Astaire has their own syllabus for the American styles, and everything is divided up really logically by difficulty into different mastery levels (pre-bronze, beginning bronze, full bronze, pre-silver, etc.). They make sure you can master one set of steps before moving onto the next level – I found that AM tended to skip around a lot, and they were mixing really hard steps in with super easy ones and it was just not working for me. The Fred Astaire studios up in Chicago are really good – I think the Buffalo Grove studio is the top FADS school in the country, actually. Jesse Desoto from season 3 of DWTS is the manager.
I wonder how long Meryl has to hang out with the Chmerkovskiy’s. I hope she gets home to her family and away from the self promotion that is those two men. The timing of the People mag spread worked nicely with his win didn’t it. As for the shippers, it is easy to see how they would have fallen for the showmance because it was played out for them. I get that but am surprised Meryl went along with it tbh as she could dance without all of that. It was a bit toned down from Val and Kelly but similar in lots of ways. As for Wendy Williams, she just called them out on it so good for her. Not a fan of her but she at least addressed it in a way that was pretty point blank.
And Mark never even played the romance angle with Bristol and it was still bad. This should be worse.
That was Courtney, Jara – but she and I share a mind on this topic. You’ll note that you rarely see Cheryl or Derek (or Mark) in the press about who they’re dating if they can help it. Complete contrast with Maks. It’s all PR. I will give her credit, she did get Maks and Val into People – too bad it was for hot bods instead of talent. 🙂
PH, or anyone else in the know, do you think there will be a fan backlash from both sets of fans? Meryl’s and Mak’s. How did the showmance rumours die with Val and Kelly. I didn ‘t follow that season but was it the same thing with disillusioned fans after it was revealed to be fake?
I’m going to say it: I’m a shipper. 100%. I do it all the time. Every season. 🙂 I loved Meryl and Maks, I loved Amy and Derek (until I found out she has a boyfriend–but even then they’re just so fun and natural together that I kept finding myself wondering “what if…”). I tended to fast-forward through a lot of James and Peta stuff, but even they were pretty cute with each other. My point is that it’s all just in good fun. It’s fun to speculate about a beautiful couple possibly falling in love before our very eyes. The are-they-aren’t-they/will-they-won’t-they questions are just because people want to be invested in what could potentially be a sweet story. But to ask straight-out if a couple is having sex is just tacky and it takes all the fun out of it. As good as the whole season was, I’m glad Meryl put the kibosh on it. Either they’re not a couple and are getting tons of assumptive questions, or they’re in the beginning stages of a relationship and getting tons of presumptive questions. Either way, it wouldn’t be fun. I thought Meryl and Maks each brought out some great aspects of the other’s personality, and so I hope they stay friends. But for her sake, I’m really looking forward to her being able to go back home and back to a more normal life.
The shippers are still in denial and clinging to the hope that they are just saying that so the press will leave them alone. Really, Maks who does everything to be in the press? An aspiring actor who went nowhere. Maybe he and Meryl should try to get a movie deal since she also have some artistic pretensions.
FOR YOU, it’s all in fun Colleen. What you do actually sounds pretty normal. Hell, I saw how Amy was looking at Derek and started to wonder. But this isn’t the “shipping” we’re talking about. If it was ALL all in good clean fun, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. At all. But unfortunately, going all the way back to Mulder and Scully, shipping has a very dark and disturbing side where some people can’t separate reality from fiction.
I read the comments on one site and people are actually engaging in
bitter postings calling each other names – M&M shippers VS people believing it was a fake romance. It was ugly and it’s not even a week.
Some people are so invested in this romance that I cringe when I read some of the postings.
Very well said, Colleen.
And just because there are crazy shippers in the world, this shouldn’t be a reason for people not to act freely and uninhibited in front of the camera. I hope Meryl and Maks realize how much joy they brought to a lot of people watching them, and I hope that they don’t let the media cheapen that in any way. I take hope that Maks, having more experience with DWTS, knows how to put things in perspective.
I think in hard financial times, with social media bringing news so fast to people and for free, TV and printed media have a harder time creating buzz and selling. So, they have to go down and dirty to get some juicy scoops out.
For anyone interested, there is a good interview with Maks in TV Guide that just came out. I think the questions asked are very well conceived, and the answers are quite informative to me. I am a bit disappointed we have not seem more interviews like this.
Well, someone in Maks camp gave People the photos from their NYC celebration so I don’t think they had to go too down and dirty for the juice, and I think most of us know who that was. Uninhibited is one thing. Purposely misleading fans, which was exactly what was going on in between the dances, is another. I saw a number of comments from fans who say they were duped. Duh.
Rose1, I think there is a difference between providing photos to People with the DWTS winners toasting champaign with friends, versus going to a live talk show only to be asked about having sex with your dance partner.
And if the dating question would be 1 out of 15, I would still be ok with it. But it obviously wan not the case here. WW is the greatest winner in all this, because all the media outlets rewarded her for getting the scoop. Uhhh….
I don’t know about joy. They certainly did not give me any of that. What I got is contempt that they have to resort to that when Meryl is already a very good dancer and could easily win the MBT with her talents.
I tell you this. I went to see their SOI recently and I was so anticipating the event since I bought the tickets. But what with her antics on DWTS, I did not really enjoy the show. So there are some repercussions. Some people bought it and loved the M&M show but some like us who felt it was fake did not.
Wendy is crass, but Robin asked it in her own way too. This couple created the controversy, yet fans like Anna won’t accept that. Even in the TV guide article he continues to play his games. He did the SAME thing after his season with Erin ended going on how it will extend beyond DWTS but it’s private yada yada yada.
That TV guide interview is interesting… I feel like a lot of this interview was meant to counter the issues many fans, like us here at Pure, have with Maks and this season, particularly that part about it being “Meryl’s win” to compensate for the obvious focus on him in interviews and on the show. However, I do buy that he was kidding about the Boris and Oleg part XD. I also am willing to bet he won’t compete next season because he knows he’ll never have a partner as talented and compliant as Meryl, and he’ll eventually end up throwing a temper tantrum.
It’s called damage control.
He can do all the damage control he wants. My opinion of him since he started at DWTS is still the same opinion I have today.
Same here Ria. I was hoping he had changed when the season first started. Well, he hasn’t.
Anna, the TV Guide interview is in the post above in an update in case you didn’t see it. It’s been there since yesterday.
Vogue, I think it’s a different interview than the one above. The latest one is with Maks not Meryl. I can send the link through contact if you want. However, I felt that probably you guys are fed up with the MBT related media. Cheers and thanks.
You are right. Sorry about that. Just added the new one. Thanks.
Come on, Meryl and Maks bear some responsibility for all the questions that are being asked right now. They are not innocent victims in all this. You play the showmance card…or don’t discourage the showmance card…you get lots of questions. Meryl or Maks could have said a month ago or more “WE’RE JUST FRIENDS with a great connection” – instead a week after the show Meryl says “We’re not dating” and everyone is up in arms?? LOL
And really, it’s not news that Wendy Williams is tacky as hell.
Oh, Penny, I agree…he was joking about the kids thing, or perhaps making fun of people like CAI who say they should get married. CAI should be made fun of more often. Problem is, Maks doesn’t really understand his audience. The shippers don’t GET jokes about marriage and babies.
#81 PH
LOL They totally deserve it, for all the barfing I had to go through every week. They could’ve been professional about it but chose to manipulate the public. I still can’t believe there are so many people out there who were gullible enough to buy into it. It wasn’t that believable and looked scripted most of the time, part of the reason for my barfing.
The shippy folks are quite a breed. They went from Meryl and Charlie Disney couple, to hating Tanith, to loving sibling Charlie, all for the fiery union of Meryl and Maks, and all within a matter of weeks…HAHAHA. If anything, watching shippers go through a meltdown over their ships is incredibly amusing on a boring day, annoying on others.
I’m still pissed that the other contestants didn’t get a fair chance this season as a result. The outcome may have been different if this fauxmance wasn’t fogging the minds. The fauxmance and the pimping gave a false sense that Meryl was superlatively better than everyone else.
Give me a break. His choreography was meant to fan the showmance. Now they are acting like they are innocent of doing it. I have never seen so much gazing and near kisses and fighting and cuddling in all the years I have been watching DWTS.
I will take Charlie’s delightful foxtrot anyday from their pseudo foxtrot.
In his words “You do not need to be outrageous or fake anything to be entertaining.” I agree.
And as for CAI, she is so unprofessional for saying that they should get married on the show! Her job is to critique the dance not delve into their personal lives or go into several shows pimping the couple that is still competing with 2 other couples. Shows too much bias on her part.
Maks sure loves to toot his own horn. I’ve seen far superior couples on DWTS.
My ggodness this guy sure thinks a lot of himself. Nobody came close to him and Meryl for passion. Maybe because the two of you made sure to sell it.
Funny now that he has gotten the mirror ball so many “sournces” are now coming out telling the press that there is no romance between the two of them, that they are just friends. For sure that is not what DWTS media was tooting when they plastered pics of the couple emphasizing their chemistry and disregarding the other 3 couples.
This is no big surprise to me, I don’t think he has ever dated any of his partners in the past and he isn’t about to start now, have read he may not be coming back next season, so am soo glad that he won this one.
“I think the show never had a couple like Meryl and me. … We had these stories on the floor that gave a completely new depth to our show. Between what we did and what Derek was able to do with Amy, this season has been absolutely remarkable. We had unbelievable dancers. … Nobody, I think, came close to Meryl and me”
Oh my god. Does the man have some sort of medical condition that makes it impossible for him to speak without his foot in his mouth? Has a pro on the show ever been this disrespectful of the other competitors? Meryl went along with the showmance and the fallout from that is on her as much as Maks, but his terrible sportsmanship must have her cringing. She are Charlie are both known for being so gracious and never bragging or saying a bad word about the competition. She’s got to be embarrassed.
That TV guide interview was so self important. Not impressed at all. With regard to shippers though, apparently Kristyn Burtt let it out on twitter that Val and Jenna Johnson are an item. Meant to deflect from Maks and Meryl I guess. I have never seen a season where the couple had to backtrack so quickly on their “romance” . Unfortunately, Meryl is also to blame for this imo.
Okay if this is the kind of guy that Meryl admires then whatever little respect I have left for her just went down the drain.
I have always thought he is an arrogant j–k and just confirmed it.
Maybe it is just me, but I never saw any “chemistry” between Maks and Meryl. Yes, she is a beautiful dancer. I actually enjoyed her tango with Val better than any dance with Maks because I don’t think he is a good choreographer. Honestly, I thought it was all an act and a phony one at that. Derek and Amy had good chemistry in a non sexual way and it showed in their dances. I think Peta and James had good chemistry and a real attraction but I think it was the show more than them that pushed it. James had some interesting comments in his Parade blog about keeping personal things personal and how the show must’ve asked Peta about dating for two hours to get the soundbite they needed. Also, just saw an interview with James and Peta on OKmagazine website and when asked about their “past” before the show and James not calling, they both said something to the effect that there is “their version” and the “DWTS version” and they told their version. Obviously as we all know, in a one minute package they edit and show what they want the audience to see. In Maks and Meryl’s case, I can see Maks doing anything to win the MBT but I just don’t get why Meryl, a gold medalist, would play along. She didn’t even seemed excited when they won! I’d love to know why people think Meryl played along especially if she has a boyfriend. I honestly don’t get what’s in it for her but maybe I’m dense.
#92 Liz, I wonder if Meryl got caught up in the whole thing within the bubble of the show and didn’t realize where this was heading? It’s the only thing I can think of!
*serious eye roll* Maksim Chmerkovskiy, a DWTS legend in his own mind.
You were partnered with one half of America’s golden sweethearts, of COURSE there were people pulling for you. You never felt it before because you’ve always come across as an arrogant p**ck and most people tend to find that somewhat off-putting. Maybe less with the talking for you. You’re not helping yourself in this media blitz.
Yeesh!
No, no, no. I want him to continue talking and putting his foot in his mouth. I want people to find out what he really is. Although I don’t think it will make much difference to the Maks worshippers who will fall all over themselves making excuses for him but I want to be be entertained by the excuses they will come up with.
Maks coming back as a judge would not surprise me since it’s an idea that’s been thrown around in the past. Regardless of what people want to say about his personality/etc, he DOES has a strong background in competitive Latin dancing and has an understanding of the technical side that could be viewed as an asset. He also has a fan following that producers would like to keep around.
Before anyone wants to kill me for this comment, what I would actually like to see at the judges table is a bit of a shake up. How about a judges’ table consisting of 5 people – Carrie Ann, Bruno, Maks, Derek, and Shirley Ballas? Putting on the bulletproof vest…
#92 Donna, that’s as good a reason as any! I would love to know what the mods think. I really rooted for Meryl and Charlie during the Olympics and were excited they were going to do the show. I loved Charlie and Sharna but thought he was seriously underscored as the weeks went on. IMO he was the sacrificial lamb for M&M to win. Also, I never connected to Meryl seeing her in any of the packages. Like I said, I know they are edited but to me the whole season was about Maks’ journey not Meryl’s. I felt like I got to know more about the other celebs but with Meryl what I knew in week 1 was the same as week 10 except for all the gag inducing garbage with Maks. I read the comments above about her mother and others saying how free she felt dancing as compared to being “robotic” in skating. All well and good, she could still have been free without the Maks showmance. Maybe she was caught up in the dwts bubble and all the mushy talk he was throwing at her but she’s a bright woman so I’m back to square one as to why she went along with it.
Ok, somebody on one of the posts quoted from one of Sharna and Charlie’s red carpet interviews after they were eliminated where Charlie said something to the effect of “holding [their] heads high because [they] remained true to themselves…” etc. I can’t find the post and I can’t remember which interview it was. Can anyone help me out?
Just find it incredibly interesting and a bit eyebrow raising. Was that a veiled “jab” at his on ice partner and how she played the “game” or was it directed at someone else? Thinking on it now, it just seems a bit “unCharlie-like,” at least, what we would expect from him. To me, it’s a very subtle way of voicing his own displeasure at the manipulative natures of someone involved with the show. OR, maybe I’m completely off base and reading things into statements that I’m misremembering or just some wishful thinking that Charlie would stand up for himself just a bit. *shrugs*
Angie, I think it maybe the interview that the icenetwork did with him titled “Charlie White Exits DWTS with head held high”. I infer in that interview that maybe the producers might have asked them to do something and they refused.
However, he did make another remark “You don’t have to be outrageous or fake anything to be entertaining.” in another interview. So do you think that mabe that was about M&M? IMO I really don’t think he is a fan of Maks.
#96 Ansley- IMO Derek is too valuable to be used as a judge.
#99 Ria, it’s funny but I never thought Maks was much of a fan of Charlie and was jealous that Charlie was really her partner. I always felt like his support for them was an obligation and something he did for the cameras. He just never seemed to me like he bonded with Charlie despite all the time they spent on the road together. Same thing with Meryl and Sharna.
Uhhh… I can think of two other DWTS couples that had equal or more chemistry than Meryl & Maks —> Mario & Karina, Apolo & Julianne. As we all know, Mario & Karina took it off the dancefloor and Apolo & Julianne didn’t. I have to admit, I fell hard for a showmance before (Apolo & Julianne) and yet in hindsight, I now know they weren’t even trying to SELL a showmance!! But I do know that the fandom of a couple that is *shipped* can GO HARD and go hard for years… =P Apolo & Julianne’s shipper fandom lasted for like three years before people realized nothing would ever happen. My advice to shippers, DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME! 😉
IMO, Meryl and Maks have an incredible bond, bring out really good qualities in each other, and wanted to win for each other. If they needed to perpetuate, insinuate, sell and exacerbate their chemistry to become the focal point of the season… I don’t doubt they would do that 100&. I do think they will be friends for life, but I just am not of the opinion that any little Boris or Olegs are going to be born in the immediate future! haha!
Angie, Charlie and Meryl would never jab at one another. For years interviewers have tried to get them to spill on what the other does that drives them crazy and they’ve always refused to play along, even in jest. They really do respect each other and their partnership. I’m sure Charlie was talking about TPTB, who tried hard to create drama where there wasn’t any. He was pissed at that “contrived” bottom two, not at Meryl.
As far as Meryl and the showmance, I don’t know why she played along. Except I can’t even imagine how crazy her life has been the last several months. The pressure leading up to the Olympics, the media frenzy afterwards, the brutal DWTS/SOI schedule, and being partnered with needy tantrum-throwing Maks. That’s a lot to handle. Maybe she just went with the flow because she was too fried to do anything else.
#99
I agree. There are things Charlie and Sharna said which subtly let out their frustration for what they weren’t trying to present. That can be interpreted from what was going on at that point in the show.
Maks called Charlie weird, because he was happy all the time, in one of the OTRC interviews. LOL what would Maks know about a positive attitude on life when all of his time is spent in obsessively massaging his ego and throwing temper tantrums when he feels out of control. His maturity is as much as a two year old.
Charlie’s congratulatory snippet from the show to Meryl on the official DWTS twitter was telling, in the fact that Maks was never mentioned. Charlie is looking forward to celebrating their Olympic victory once she gets home.
Are these omissions merely accidental? 😛
Ria #99, I think you’re right. I was remembering those 2 different interviews and intertwining them in my head. It was the “you don’t have to fake anything or be outrageous to be entertaining” quote that I was having trouble coming up with. I certainly believe that to be an allusion to the machinations that were taking place on this show. To me, coming from HIM, it’s a barely veiled reference to the whole “fauxmance” angles that were being played. Altho, to give him a bit more credit, maybe it was a reference to the producers trying to play the “rivalry” angle between he and Meryl, which they both pretty much flatly refused to go along with.
Huh, just hit me that even THAT could be telling. Meryl refused to play along with THAT producer ploy which would directly involve she and Charlie against each other. She actually just gained a bit in my estimation because, to ME, that shows a deep respect for him and the relationship they have. Her refusal to taint that 17 years but being ok with playing out this NEW “relationship” with Maks in such a public way is significant in my eyes. Almost like she could have thought, “it doesn’t really matter how this is perceived because it’s only for 10 weeks then I get to go home and be ME again and we get to be US again. The rest is just for show.”
I dunno. 4 am musings. I think I need some sleep. lol
I’m adding a J to my name because of the “Ange” that posted earlier. Much too close. So I’ll be Angie J from now on if that’s ok?
Kate(1), I didn’t see the congratulatory snippet, but I noticed Charlie kept saying he was team Meryl in interviews after he was voted off. I never thought anything of it until he tweeted his fans to vote for Meryl and sent out two congratulatory tweets to her without ever mentioning Maks. Maybe I’m reading too much into things, but I’ve started to wonder if the mic pack throwing incident and Maks swearing at Meryl on camera really bothered Charlie.
@Shelly #45
It was an interview from an entertainment show long after the season was over when they played back a clip for Erin of Maksim saying it wasn’t the same bed they use at home. Not that Erin didn’t play into a showmance when the season was going…..
My point was that I remembered the clip from that season and in my naiveté back then, I thought they were a couple. It wasn’t until Erin said the surprised look she gave Maks who said it to an entertainment reporter wasn’t because he spilled the beans on an actual fling, it was because they weren’t together and she couldn’t believe he said it. And that’s when I discovered the showmance of DWTS. I hadn’t been watching very long at that point. Maks is a repeat offender.
It has nothing to do with Erin in the skybox today as a host and what she says today and whether or not she and Maks are friends. I was just referring to showmances.
#106
The mic incident shouldn’t be the only one bothering ANYONE. If you hadn’t noticed Maks also insults his partners quite often. This is a habit so chances are he insults everyone. It is not a behavior that you can just turn off. And I’d like to point out that abuse isn’t always physical. I have to give kudos to Danica to have pointed that out in their duet Samba rehearsal. Meryl calling him “nurturing” was the biggest BS of the century. It makes me question her intelligence.
Maks was likely quite nurturing to Meryl, herself. I mean, she is such a strong and unique individual but also comes across as very sensitive. Maybe all of the physical stuff — the handholding and hugging, etc., comforted her, in a strange way. I’ve read an interview that she liked pairs skating as soon as she teamed up with Charlie, way back when, because it was easier to be on the ice with someone else than to be out there, alone.
I think Maks knew what he wanted to get out of her, of their relationship, and played that to the hilt. And although I think she probably did get caught up in all of the DWTS game-playing, she must have been aware that their audience was falling for it, hook line and sinker. She also went down in my estimation because of this. I’m still going to follow Davis and White, however, because I’m such a fan of their ice dancing (and of Charlie’s in general.)
Of course he would be nurturing to her – she is his ticket to his MBT.
She joined DWTS because she thought it will be fun and ended up wanting to get the MBT for Maks. Eh, I’m sure they are good friends but if she bought Maks’ whole package then like you said Kate(1)I question her intelligence.
His insulting his former partners really bugs me too. It is a very good measure of what he really is.
#107 Ashley, I think I remember that interview, with Billy and Kit. But like I said earlier, I wouldn’t put any stock into anything Erin said long after the show was over. For months after it ended she was still totally on board with it and didn’t change her tune until Maks went over to Ukraine to pretend to find a fake wife on TV.
In my opinion, the behavior of an Olympic Champion should be exemplary because they have immense power to influence others as a result of being champions. Now there are some that are caught killing people or smoking pot or driving intoxicated. Those are exceptions.
Putting on a fauxmance and winning a MBT as a result, getting asked if she was having sexual intercourse with her dance partner from the show, is quite demeaning. But it was brought upon by her own actions. It is sad because she could have approached it differently and had her dancing do all the talking on a show like DWTS. Her Classroom Champions episode on fair play got tossed out the window.
When you think of someone high profile in the skating world like Michelle Kwan or Kristi Yamaguchi, you don’t associate them with something like that. These are strong women who inspire others. I said this before, it was her choice and she has to live with it. The only saving grace in the Davis & White brand is Charlie who came out looking better than when he went in the show.
It seems to me that it’s quite a stretch to suggest that a showmance makes Meryl a bad influence or a cheater unfit to speak to schoolchildren. Seriously, lumping her in with killers and drunk drivers??
Charlie and Meryl each won an award from the Professional Skaters Association last night for being a “skater who has brought recognition to the sport in a positive and favorable manner.” I understand that you’ve lost respect for her, but the skating world as a whole still thinks she is plenty inspirational.
How right you are Kate(1). I fell in love with these two at the Olympics and fell more in love watching them in interviews – I thought how humble, educated and just wholesome they are.
Then DWTS came and my opinion of her just got turned around. Just sad. I would never have thought that she will end up in a TV show being asked if she is sleeping with somebody.
But Charlie, with his positivity and his joy just captivated me. He did not have to put on PDAs with his girlfriend but just seeing them holding hands you can feel how much they adore each other.
#AC 113
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I suggest you to take a course in reading comprehension if you are inferring all of that from my post.
@ Kate(1)
I totally agree with you. Meryl happily participated in this charade and is NOT an innocent victim. Sorry, I have no respect for her as a person.
OTOH) Charlie was pure class and did not sell himself for cheap votes.
AC … It seems to me that it’s quite a stretch to suggest that a showmance makes Meryl a bad influence or a cheater unfit to speak to schoolchildren. Seriously, lumping her in with killers and drunk drivers??
Katie(1) did not lump her in with killers and drunk drivers. As far as being a cheat, IMO) that’s debatable. Engaging in a fake showmance to take away votes from other deserving couples is not cool. What happened to ethics, to integrity? Or is the lesson now to win at all cost even if you have to engage in underhanded dirty tricks.
Derek was made Creative Director for Macy’s for a couple obvious reasons, IMO. First, something like that would really interest him, give him the opportunity to be really creative, and open up the potential for more Choregraphy Emmy’s, which the show NEEDS. Second, they probably thought that Amy would be gone by week four and having Derek doing Macy’s was a way to keep him on the show without tying him down too much. He has a big fanbase and I doubt they are anxious to lose that.
But as a judge for more than one week?? I don’t see Derek being particularly interested in doing that and he doesn’t seem like he would want to judge fellow pros on a regular basis. I could certainly be wrong. But Derek is the ultimate creative type. He’s much more likely to go for a creative role than a judge role.
Careful, AC, you don’t actually know what the “skating world as a whole” thinks. I suggest you stick to what YOU think.
While you’re at it, can the hyperbole and inflammatory rhetoric.
I can’t see Derek accepting a judging position either. What a waste of his talent. I hope he comes back as Creative Director. Of course, I would love to see him with another celebrity, but only if it was good for himself and the celebrity. So many, including the show it seems, have jumped on the Derek has too many wins bandwagon — even some of his fellow pros, which surprised me.
Mark Ballas confirmed that MnM are showmancing and that they continue to play coy for business reasons. I agree that Meryl was partner to a win-at-all-costs strategy and enjoyed it, but I don’t think she realized it would take on a life of its own. I wonder if her PR told her to set the record straight to protect her brand with Charlie. I wouldn’t be surprised. Maks, on the other hand, I believe will continue to milk it until the next thing comes along since it is his bread and butter.
Kate #115. I don’t believe I put words in your mouth. You brought up Olympian Champions who “are caught killing people or smoking pot or driving intoxicated.” And then you go on to describe Meryl as another champion who has also demeaned herself by “putting on a fauxmance.” It certainly seemed to me as though you were lumping all of that into the category of “not exemplary behavior.” I’ve always had good luck with reading comprehension, but if I’ve mistaken your intent, I apologize.
Princess Heidi, point taken. I personally haven’t seen much backlash against Meryl on the figure skating forums. In my opinion, the Davis/White brand appears to be as popular as ever.
She better make sure that the Davis-White brand is protected. They have big endorsements like Kelloggs, AT&T, Visa etc.
Where did you read about Mark confirming the showmance? I know lots of “sources” are now coming out confirming that they are not an item
and it was purposely for votes.
Let it go, AC. Now.
Really…something anyone with a working brain could figure out, Ria. 🙂
#122 Ria, he did a radio interview a few days ago with WPLJ in NY. The link to it is on You Tube. Just search for Mark Ballas Says Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis Aren’t Dating.
As far as Meryl’s showmance subterfuge goes… I personally believe someone, whether it was her or Maks’s PR or the producers, told her to reference her “connection” with him at every possible opportunity. Just as someone likely asked Charlie about his need to get tens incessantly until they figured he’d get obsessed with it. However, Charlie made a conscious decision to be true to himself, at the cost of idiotic people saying he wasn’t Meryl’s equal because he was booted early. I understand that Maks is considerably more forceful, manipulative, and willing to be underhanded than Sharna (really, polar opposites if you think about it), but Meryl didn’t have play along. I know that she never said she was in love with him, but the constant attempts to justify his behavior and her passiveness when he spoke about their “relationship “ spoke to her lack of strength. Think about James and Peta – I’d bet you they either are banging, have banged, or will in the very near future, but James consciously (like Charlie) chose to make his journey about working hard and improving himself, an example of which can be found on episode 2 when Erin asks what’s going on behind the scenes and he responds, “dancing” (or something like that).
The reasons Meryl’s being passive is a problem are: a.) it allows the shippers to imagine she’s just being coy, and goes further to perpetuate the ship due to the suspense of waiting for her declaration of love, and b.) it gives her an unfair advantage in the performance aspect and the votes aspect, both of which are essential to honest success in the competition. See Amy as an example. I don’t think there’s anyone on this board who doesn’t acknowledge how incredibly hard every dance must have been for her, and how she must have struggled behind the scenes. She could have justifiably played her struggles up and griped about her disadvantage compared to the other contestants. And she likely would have, if she’d had a member of the “fam” as her partner. However, albeit the one week (waltz) where she struggled A LOT, shemade her journey about defying the odds and growth. Amy pushed away the easy shortcut (her disability and the ensuing sympathy votes) in favor of the honest road – Meryl used a contrived shortcut (the fauxmance) rather than emulating her partner of 17 years. This is what separates the two women in my mind. And really, who got the most out of DWTS – Meryl, whose 15 minutes of fauxmance fame are counting down rapidly, or Amy, who has garnered millions of fans and proved herself a true champion in every possible way?
#88 Bethany,
Maks dated Willa Ford.
#122 Ria
LOL, I’m sure the Davis-White brand will be fine. She will go back to tweeting her boring tweets about being honored to be a part of Kellogg’s, or blessed to be doing this AT&T event or thankful for the Puffs support, interspersed with some random pictures of puppies she searched online…you know, the usual. 😀
They have international supporters who may not even have heard of DWTS or care what they did on it because they only watch skating.
#126 Penny
I like your summary. James seemed offended by the inane comments about the DWTS baby by Erin.
Amy wins hands down. What did I learn from her? She doesn’t let any obstacle stop her. She got a new lease on life after she survived miraculously even though she lost both her legs. She made it to the Olympics and won a Bronze medal. She danced with her heart and soul, through pain at times, giving us wonderful performances and taking the word impossible out of the dictionary.
She makes me appreciate life more. Never to take it for granted and be thankful for what you have today because it could easily be taken away.
What did I learn from Meryl? Maks Maks Maks Maks Maks 😀
How right you are. Three months of showing nothing about Meryl. It was all about Maks. Meryl holding his hands, giving him advices, cuddling with him, smiling while he goes on ranting about his formers partners, his desire to win, his frustration etc etc. To me, she looked more like his nanny catering to him and occasionally whipping the shippers by the near kisses.
And now that they won, all I see are promos for Maks, how he won this year not much about Meryl, since she is only his stepping stone.
Another thing I hated about this season is the hatred directed against Amy. Like her non-dancing, I mean you have to be really something else to rant against a girl with no legs just because you want a couple who is fake showmancing it to win!
People get so invested. And I can’t exclude myself in this. Charlie caught my attention during the Olympics, for some reason more than Meryl did (although I can see that she is superbly elegant and graceful on the ice. He’s just so … exuberant, I guess is the word I want.) I watched for them and for “Winnie” this season but Charlie held my interest the most (despite TPTBs manipulations.) I also thought Amy danced wonderfully and was overall impressive — and I’ll add that she was my husband’s favorite, although he usually also remarked that Meryl danced very well. He was just more likely to actually watch Amy’s dances over Meryl’s. He didn’t pay any attention to anyone else, including Charlie, until I admitted when Charlie was eliminated that that was my favorite. Then he watched Charlie on the final “supercali” dance and liked him.
To me, this season really highlighted the show’s manipulations. Maybe because I was invested enough to investigate online. They wanted a Derek and Maks showdown and they wanted Maks to win.
KLMH I will also admit that I watch Charlie more than Meryl when I went to see their dances on youtube. I know his role in ice dancing is to be the background for Meryl but I found him more watchable. He has a very definite style that you know is his, so much energy coupled with his strong skating yet very graceful for all that.
His Supercali in the finale is so good – energetic with difficult steps and the part with the umbrella almost seemed a part of the dance. It just made me more furious that he was not in the finale. Anna T said it was one of the most memorable dances she has seen on DWTS and I agree. It always bring a smile to my face. And at the end of it you can see how much the other dancers like him.
# Kate(1) so true about what you learned from Meryl! 😀
LOL Kate(1)#128. Maybe this time around instead of tweeting about the puppies she will be tweeting pictures of Maks! I went and looked at her twitter page and it’s all about her and Maks, Maks, Naks!
#133 Ria
That was from the 21st and earlier.
I highly doubt it. Knowing how she operates her twitter, she only promotes brands and never anything personal. M&M is done. Unless they are making an appearance on some show, she is not going to go out of her way to tweet pictures of him. More proof to the clueless that they got taken by a fauxmance.
Look at how the four male finalists interacted with Erin in their skybox interviews.
James tried to take the focus off the personal relationship that was being pushed and make it all about the dancing. Whatever his relationship with Peta, he wanted the focus of their time on the show to be about the dancing.
Mark cut off Erin’s questions about his injury to put the focus on Candace and what she accomplished.
Derek never talked about himself. It was always how much Amy inspired him and others and how proud he was of her.
Maks talked about how this was HIS best season/partner ever. He called attention to his groin injury, which Erin had glossed over. He spent the interviews hanging all over Meryl like a cheap suit to the point of distraction.
Season 18 was never about anything but Maks where Maks was concerned.
I find it very telling that Maksim says he can do no better on DWTS after his win with Meryl. There will be no other partner like her..blah blah blah. All this after ONE win. Yet Derek, who has won 5 times never put one partner over the other, he never said any partner was better than the others… he created magic with a diverse group of women, each with their own challenges ( OK maybe not Nicole, but she was a ringer!). Derek didn’t quit after his ringer, he looked forward to the next challenge. Maks is full of shit. How he got Brandy to show up during the finals after all of his talk is a wonder.
Shipping always seems like such a joke…. These two felt the same way. I am sure they played it up for TV because I really don’t trust anyone to be honest anymore but at the same time her package about growing up sort of explained that she has always been the shy type and doing DWTS is allowing her to express herself in a way she never did with Charlie. Maybe I’m being too naive but it seemed more as an acting experiment then anything.
I’ve never taken a shipping too seriously. But like really, I ship Karina and Peta together
#136 Sherry2
I’d say good riddance to Maks. He lucked out this season with the circumstances. And you can only test your luck so many times. He himself said in some interview that he only danced because that’s what his family expected him to do. He doesn’t even compare to Derek. Apparently, coming up with any decent choreo entails having a meltdown. If you get so stressed out about something you supposedly love to do, then that is not the right field of work for you.The guy might need to be medicated on tranquilizers to be tolerable if he comes back next season.
Derek has a passion for dance and a passion for choreography. It was something that we could see in Sharna this season as well. They are hungry to be creative. They are genuinely excited every week with the challenges they are given. They thrive in it. I say…move over Maks, make way for more talent and less drama.
i was just wondering, the youtube videos by “Dancing With The Stars” account, is it the official show’s account? the freestyle video is titled “best freestyle” if it is the official account, that’s very unfair
Kate1, that’s how it feel too, buh bye. I think he is just chasing the money, which is why he is never fulfilled. I couldn’t care less what he does, but I just hope the judging rumor is just that. It would completely ruin the show for me.
I just want to say that I did get a vibe off of Maks and Meryl as having a thing. The reason for this is because of they way they were always making out in the hallways, hugging on each other, the goofy flirtations, it was over-the-top. I do believe I made a comment in that regard on a DWTS post. I said something to the effect that they should simmer it down and get serious so that they can bring their scores up. For me, I felt the dances were sloppy and not that fantastic and that’s where I had an issue and said, “Perhaps if they stopped focusing on their budding relationship, they might get the 10’s they want.” It was annoying to me. I didn’t find it cute. I thought it was an odd pairing since she reminds of a little girl in the way she acts and her body type compared to him.
Now that it has come to the surface that they don’t have a ‘thing’ and I believe they don’t, I feel it was a ploy to get Maks to the Mirror Ball. I got reamed out by Maks lovers on his post with Kate Upton on FB. I was crazy for my opinion on it and told that I must be jealous or have something against Maks. I laugh at this, because I don’t. After reading most of your comments on here, I see many of you feel the same way. I’m not crazy for thinking this way. Thank you for reassuring me.
I don’t dislike Maks, but I do feel he has a huge ego, and was truly milking the relationship, friendship, fling, what ever one wants to call it, he milked it for the win. I do believe that he did. Maks is about Maks. You all can argue all you want with me, but that’s just the way I see it. I was told this is because the press edited it all to make him look like that, but he’s not that way. I don’t know what is the truth or isn’t the truth. I just know the thing played up for votes. And everyone is right, they didn’t need to do that. They didn’t. She is that good where they would have won it regardless. My feelings about Maks have definitely changed. I don’t like his approach or strategy for the win. It’s disrespectful to the viewers, to Meryl (whether she went with it or not), and makes me feel that he is all about himself.
I am not a shipper, truly I am not. I don’t care one way or another if their dating or not, but the manipulation of trying to convince people in a round about way, that they are a couple and Maks showing this sudden vulnerability because of Meryl, is ridiculous to me. I honestly hope he doesn’t come back to show, because he has turned me off to him, based on what he did and how he behaved with Meryl. I have watched this show for a long time and have seen loads of showmances, but this is over-the-top.
#Ria! I know what you mean about the nasty hatred towards Amy. That was horrible. It broke my heart how vicious people were to her and all the Derek haters were just pouncing on it. I am a Derek lover and feel he is by far the genuine article and never has to fake showmances, play up with grandma for encouragement (and to showcase further Maks’s vulnerability, everything about Maks this season was contrived, even his kiss to Erin. The whole things was such b.s. I bought it, I admit, I did. I felt he was genuine and growing as a man. But then after the show, and I see his interviews and how he dismisses Meryl and makes it all about himself. I just couldn’t get over it. What he needs to realize is, she won the Mirror Ball. She won it. She won it because she worked her ass off and didn’t need to play a game to win it. That’s why I voted for her, not because of Maks, but because I saw growth and she finally refined herself and stepped it up. Maks was there as her trainer, but she was the star. And I don’t hear him saying anything of the sort. It’s all about Maks. I have lost all respect for him now. In fact, I’m going to stop following him on instagram and fb. I can’t deal with that.
DWTS manipulated the public from the beginning when they GMA introduced the partners. GMA made it seem like they didn’t know who there partners were until they came out on stage. So, why the clip of Mousey Meryl opening the door and seeing Mad Mak for the first time? Which was it DWTS? It was not necessary to play games. DWTS is a cornball show, I should have known better then to get caught up in a pile of dung!
One more thing Mousy Meryl, what makes you think you are so important, that you have to be so evasive about your private life? Don’t make a sexual spectacle of yourself in public if you want to be private. I’m sure Mad Mak will use you as leverage to get a judge position. His arrogance is appalling. I saw how frightened you where when he threw the mic. Mad Mak is a social climber, womanizer and a user. How disgusting that while his former conquests stood by, you let him treat you like a tart for the world to see for the MB. All of his choreography was basically the same moves. He has ripped off a partner’s clothing in the past and left her scantily clad, as you were. In 5 years I see him with a beer belly and thinning hair. Yuck, so vile for you to stand their and be mauled with others he has, mauled looked on. Guess you are a member of the Mad Maks Mauled bunch. Girl, you need to shower with bleach to get his stench off!
And I see that Meryl has gone back to tweeting about her sponsors and Charlie. Any lurking Maksyl nitwits: care to explain why Meryl hasn’t said a thing about Maks since the finale?
Forgot to say — it makes me very happy to see that Meryl and Charlie are as close now as they were before S18. I knew they were both level-headed, mature people who can see things for what they are, but still 😀
@Penny – The answer: because there never was anything between Meryl & Maks to begin with, and because this win was never about her: it was all about him. Can’t say I blame her for washing her hands of that desperate egomaniac…glad to see she’s back to Instagramming pictures of cute puppies. 🙂 So much for that “best chemistry ever” thing…
…heard it through the grapevine that there was a massive shipper war over on Maks’ Facebook page yesterday…the inevitable hangover after Meryl & Maks’ MBT honeymoon. Anyone care to give me some highlights, Mills Lane-style? 😎
I can see shippers from DWTS attending her ice shows to yell out and hold signs about sleeping MAKS. I can see many kooks attending her shows not for her skating, but for their shipper needs for marriage and babies from these to frauds! I bet they have added extra security!
@NotNice — that is disgusting. And, although she may have been spineless about the whole thing, she doesn’t deserve to have what should be the celebration of an illustrious career tarnished by that sort of press.
Penny, cannot say it enough, she brought this on herself! There are kooks, who have no life. I’m sure they are going to find their way to her shows for shipper info. I’m just the messenger: M&M put the message out with their over-the-top junior high petting, groping and rolling on the floor. Thanks to those who brought it to my attention, about winning the ball all for him. I thought it was for the celebrity? Now he is hawking that jewelry line. It’s sad that so many women drool over him. I bet he spends more time in the mirror then models!
Courtney, the shitstorm on FB was about a photo he posted of Kate Upton and him hugging. I think they were together at some nightclub over the weekend. Lots of fans dissing Kate and/ Meryl. A real ex girlfriend vs the mirror ball trophy girlfriend or something like that.
It is interesting though that Meryl has returned to regular scheduled programming so to speak. Although she will probably be used for support of Maks studios and is currently the face of a tshirt on their website. It was always about him and him alone this sesson. Really, looking back on it, this was a very strange season indeed!
@NotNice: you’re absolutely right that she brought it on herself — it just makes me sad. And I’m sure the Meryl who put in the hard work to get that medal is quailing at the disgusting fanfics and made-up interviews that are being circulated by the shippers.
Did anyone else see Charlie’s tweet that “everyone keeps attributing quotes to Meryl that she never said”? I found that very interesting.
@Penny: Please, do not feel sad for her. Save your sadness for children who do not have enough to eat, or a proper bed to sleep in. Although, the skater is a woman-child, she needs to take ownership for the invasion of her private life. She is a liar, because there was something going on between them. I saw footage of them leaving a late night rehearsal, and she was caressing his back like a lover. I guess lying about one’s love life, is common on the skating circuit. I guess she thought she could tell lies to the general public and it would be lapped up. Now, poor Charlie has to defend her dishonorable honor. I hope her parents spoke with her after DWTS and told her she was barking up the wrong tree with this male whore.
Enough, NotNice. This is getting tiresome.
What ensued was thousands of comments of people arguing with each other if Maks was betraying Meryl, if he was cheating on Meryl with Kate, if Meryl had a boyfriend the whole time, how Maks and Meryl are “true love” and he’s too stupid to see it….you really have to read it to believe it. Totally stupid. And the grammar and spelling are horrendous. 🙂
Of course, now Maks has posted a pic of him and Meryl, saying something about finally getting a hug. In four hours it got close to 20k likes. I guess we have a motive, besides the one where it quells all the hatred they both were getting. Well, if your studio needs PR…or you need PR…this is certainly the easy way.
People are ridiculous. I mean, do we live in a harlequin romance world??
The thing about it is that they are not actually saying or doing anything. But because they have to know, particularly Maks, that his association with her puts a greater spotlight on him, it is worth putting out there. I suspect his publicist took the photo of them last night and it will be in the tabloids today. Tbh, I don’t know if the shipper, who didn’t realize that dancing involves pretending to be in love, are the real culprits in this mess. Although Maks certainly promoted the connection for shipper votes.
The photo of him with Meryl was quickly retweeted by his publicist. And then retweeted by Meryl. They know full well what was going on on Maks’ facebook. Damage control? Keeping the ship alive? Who knows.
Nope, not how this works, NotNice – you’re in MY house, and I don’t have any obligation to let you spew your nonsense and just act like a lunatic. You’ve said your peace; now you’re just spamming with the same stuff over & over. Cut it out or I will continue to delete your comments.
Sounds like that picture was a combination of damage control and capitalizing on the ship for a little longer. I took a peek at the picture and the comments and quickly flew away, lest I hurl all over my laptop.
Maks gave a radio interview today about an upcoming gig with BWAT and when one of the interviewers made a remark about him and Meryl going off to a tropical island or something funny like that, his publicist got on the phone to tell them off. Interviewers promptly suggested they would stop the interview because she was intervening. Pretty funny stuff as it is coming back to hit him in the butt now. Also he reaffirms he won’t be coming back to dwts.
Sounds about right – Lounge Lizard Grubman going apesh*t and overreacting. And color me not surprised he’s not coming back to DWTS – he can now claim that he “retired as a champion”. If he comes back, I sincerely doubt he’d be able to pull off another win.
Actually he said that he felt sorry for Derek because he had won five MB and he felt that diluted the special feeling of only having won one. Another example of “all about me” Maks. So he only needs one for him Mama and now he can move on. Really funny stuff.
103.7 KVIL for anyone interested in the latest self promotion and passive aggressive behaviour against Derek. I guess Derek’s partners who won were more important to him. Cuz they only won once! I will shut up now.
Love him, hate him or “objectively” stating opinions about him, people keep talking about Maks. I think this season turned out great in terms of publicity. I sometimes wonder how much of this is planned, as opposed to him simply not thinking things much and letting the media do their thing.
Meryl has to gain from this as well. She is going to retire from ice skating, so from now on many appearances and ice shows will depend on her appeal to the general public. And DWTS got her a lot of milage on that front. People learned about the Olympian Meryl during Sochi, but the majority got to know her and “fall in love” with her during DWTS. So from now on, most of her entertainment interviews will involve DWTS and Maks. Look at Apolo… after all these years you can hardly find an interview with him that does not tackle DWTS.
Maks isn’t coming back next season…yes, thank you!! I believe him this time now that he has the stupid trophy. Unlike after all star season when he said he wasn’t going to come back. It just opens up a spot for a male pro who you know would enjoy the job of teaching a celeb and have fun unlike Maks who had to play babysitter to his partners and drag them around the floor. He made it seem like the show was a drag to be on. Hopefully its Gleb they bring back.
Maks is soooo jealous of Derek STILL that he can hardly see straight. Really, Maks? I would bet a MILLION dollars that each one of Derek’s trophys AND the partners he didn’t win with, such as Amy and Shawn, were more special to him because he actually earned them on talent and not on a showmance. Not to mention the fact that Derek isn’t as shallow as you – he stayed on the show BECAUSE of Amy.
As for people talking about him?? Yeah, he needed to come back to DWTS and have a win engineered for him with the biggest ringer the show has ever seen for that to happen, didn’t he. LOL. Hates the show….desperately needs the show…hates the show…desperately needs the show. Two things that do NOT describe Derek.
What an asshole.
PH, my sentiments exactly. He does not know when to close his mouth, or be diplomatic. His publicist is an idiot also. Who does she think he is. He is a c rated celeb and with her behind him being a puppeteer he will remain that way.
Maks is a celeb? Since when? Nude shots do not a celebrity make.
And Maks thinks Derek’s wins aren’t special because… he has SO MANY OF THEM?? Got news for ya, buddy — Derek has stayed on the show up until now because he enjoys teaching, partnering and creating, all of which you are quite lousy at.
The bit about Derek having TOO MANY wins cracks me up. I thought Maks was upset because he had NO wins? Yup Maks, this is the perfectly logical thing to say about someone who has beaten you consistently — “I feel bad for you, because you’ve handed me my ass on a platter so many times that it must not even mean much to you anymore.” Though of course Derek the Zen Master doesn’t see it that way.
Oh, yeah… and short of marrying Meryl and making a shit ton of babies with her, *no amount* of damage control is going to solve this one. Hope Sharna’s having a good laugh over the facebook war.
Girl, shippers are simple and turn on a dime! One photo of him and Meryl and they’ve forgotten (or rationalized away) that whole Kate thing. 🙂 Kinda like they conveniently forget that Meryl straight up said that she and Maks aren’t dating…on the show this post is about. 🙂
Yeah, poor, poor Derek. :::rolls eyes:::
I didn’t get the last bit about Sharna though.
[…] of you have been talking about this interview in comments in the Wendy Williams post. Well, if you go to 103.7 KVIL, you can listen to them interviewing Maks Chmerkovskiy this morning […]
@Heidi — sorry, this finals studying thing is turning my brain into mush. I meant that I hope Sharna, who chose to focus on the dancing and performance rather than underhanded tricks, has seen the (already) huge backlash and disillusionment aimed at Maks and understands that, while taking the honest route didn’t pay off on the show, at least she won’t have to deal with disillusioned shipper hate mail about how “YOU BETRAYED US!!!!!!!!! How could you, we trusted you!! I am still not over how much hate she has received from the stooges and some non-discerning fans from both Andy Dick’s season and this one.
As far as the shippers rationalizing away obvious evidence that Maksyl is nonexistent… I don’t think they even have to. They see *literally* everything as proof that Meryl and Maks are together (I know a few. Crack is wack, indeed). Apparently Meryl’s outright denial of any relationship between them is her “just being coy” or “trying to make it so their wedding will be a surprise!!”. And the picture of Kate Upton was to “make Meryl jealous so she’d come running back into his arms.”
Thing about Derek — you may not be attracted to or like the man, but you have to respect him for his integrity. All Maks has going for him is “sex on a stick”. And Hollywood’s already full to the brim with that.
#141 Michelle, they were making out in the hallways? When? All I ever read is they were “caught kissing” behind the scenes, much like Maks was “caught kissing” Erin Andrews at Derek’s birthday party.
If Meryl is so private and prefers to keep her private life private then give a definitive answer one way or the other and put an end to this. Oh wait she already did that but is back to playing games. Looks to me like Meryl is discovering she likes all the media attention and speculation about her private life.
What if they really are in true love? Will the anti M&M shippers eat crow? Crow doesn’t taste so bad when it’s stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms. I’ll be the first to eat crow. It’s been stated that she has met his parents, and she was seen hugging his mother. If this is a fraud, it sure is elaborate.
Er, Amy met Derek’s parents and Derek met Amy’s parents…are they in love? Nope. :::rolls eyes::: Any port in a storm, for shippers.
#notsmartofpublictobeduped
I’m not a shipper. But, why are the anti M&M shippers just a fanatical as the shippers? OMG, the shipppers are cray-cray. Maybe the shippers are just romantic fools. There is hysteria on both sides.
Hysteria?? Look up hyperbole, NotNice, as it pertains to non-shippers. And now YOU are starting to resemble not only a troll, but a SHIPPER in non-shipper clothing. You protest too much.
LoL, so I was TOTALLY right about both the troll part and the shipper part.
I know the topic of showmances has been done to death, but I don’t get how DWTS so quickly turned into a televised tabloid. Sure, there have been plenty of hookups on the show (Mario & Karina, Sabrina & Mark, Shannon & Derek to name a few) but the chemistry in those partnerships was quite real. These days, TPTB work in overdrive to push the showmances/fauxmances down our throats and to be honest, it’s quite awkward. And with great dancing, who needs showmance? Some of the best dancers/biggest ringers on the show won without playing that card. Kristi Yamaguchi & Nicole Scherzinger are prime examples. And they clearly loved partnerships without playing up any sparks for the camera.
In theory, Meryl should have been the best dancer to ever be on the show. While she is the biggest ringer, I don’t think she has that title as the best ever. There was too much emphasis on the showmance, on Meryl taming the beast in Maks, how much Maks has changed, etc. And with someone as immensely talented as Meryl, she really could have won solely on the merit of her dancing. Just looking at this Wendy Williams interview, what was the major topic of discussion? The showmance. And if it couldn’t get more obvious that this season was all about Maks, did Wendy even directly ask a question to acknowledge Meryl’s presence? Clearly Maks is the star here, which really takes away from what Meryl has accomplished.
I know I’m not the only one who’d rather see couples working hard, having fun, and showing a natural chemistry together. I wish Meryl & Maks could’ve taken a page Charlie & Sharna’s book. Totally drama free partnership focused on hard work and great performances. They ended the show with their dignity in tact. Too bad the TPTB treated them like crap. Hell, even with James & Peta, they obviously were attracted to each other and TPTB partnered them expecting sparks to fly. But they never really gave in to milking their showmance for the camera. James really wanted his dancing to be the main focus and I admire him so much for that. I also LOVED Amy & Derek because it was a very sweet, positive, supportive, partnership that hinged on a lot of trust. They had plenty of natural chemistry, but any fauxmancing for the camera would’ve degraded what they accomplished. Candace & Mark was also a joy to watch because their connection was so genuine and fun.