Peta Murgatroyd Breaks Silence After Backlash: ‘I Want to Learn From This’

On October 24, “Dancing With the Stars” alumni Peta Murgatroyd and her husband, Maks Chmerkovskiy, recapped “Wicked Night” together on her podcast. But when the two began making remarks critical of current season pro dancers Rylee Arnold and Jan Ravnik, fans of the two immediately jumped to their defense.

On October 30, Maksim apologized to Jan, so everyone was waiting for Peta’s response. On October 31, she finally addressed the couple’s comments. She explained that she knew that some of their “critiques came off more harshly than intended.” However, “that was never the goal.”

Peta Murgatroyd Admits Passion Can Be Mistaken for Negativity

“Before we get into this week’s breakdown, I want to take a moment to address what happened last week,” Peta began her Halloween episode of her “Penthouse With Peta” podcast.

“We never want to condone hate or personal attacks of any kind,” the two-time Mirrorball Trophy winner stated. “We love ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ It’s one of the best shows on television, and a show that has given me so much over the years.”

“To Jan and Rylee, please know that our intention was never to make things personal,” Murgatroyd continued. “We’re so sorry for hurting your feelings. Our goal is to discuss performances from a professional ballroom dancer’s perspective, and, unfortunately, sometimes our passion can be mistaken for negativity — but that’s never where our hearts are.”

She finished by saying she wanted the podcast to remain a “safe space” for sharing honest thoughts and feelings. She hoped to “learn from this and move forward, continuing to watch, support, and celebrate this show that we all love.”

Maks Suggests a Coffee Meeting With Jan Ravnik in Social Media Video

Maks and Peta sparked backlash when they debated Jan and Rylee’s experiences, focusing mainly on Jan’s lack of ballroom-dancing expertise. Peta called Jan “a lovely guy” and “a great dancer.” However, she also stated that “He’s a Taylor Swift dancer; it’s the obvious reason why he is hired.”

Maks was much more blunt in his assessment. He stated that “Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on ‘Dancing With the Stars.'” He later posted a video on social media apologizing to Jan for hurting his feelings.

“There’s a lot more that I wanted to say,” Maks said in his video to Jan. “I would like the opportunity to do it over coffee, or any kind of time you have to spare.”