Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Multi-season Dancing with the Stars performer Maksim Chmerkovskiy trained as a dancer from childhood in his native Ukraine, then suffered from a debilitating skiing accident in mid-adolescence that threatened to end not simply his dancing, but his physical movement. Incredibly, Chmerkovskiy endured bouts of extreme physical therapy that enabled him to almost fully recover. In time, after Chmerkovskiy immigrated with his family to the United States (and opened a dance studio), ABC tapped him as one of the professional performers on their Dancing competitive reality series. His partners included Tia Carrere, Willa Ford, Laila Ali (with whom he came in third place), and former Spice Girl Melanie Brown (with whom he came in second place). - Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide