Karina Smirnoff Wedding: Why Call Off Her Engagement to Brad Penny?

Only a few weeks after Karina Smirnoff and her partner J.R. Martinez took home the mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars, reports claim that the dancer has called off her engagement to Tigers pitcher Brad Penny.

Signs that trouble was brewing has already appeared in October 2011 when Smirnoff postponed her wedding with the MLB player, ostensibly to focus on the Dancing competition. Smirnoff's strict schedule paid off, earning the dancer her first DWTS win after ten tries at the mirror ball trophy.

Less than a month later, however, her relationship with Brad Penny seems to have come to end, with E! Online, MSN and multiple other sources reporting that Smirnoff and Penny have called it quits.

Smirnoff Has Stormy Relationship History

Although Smirnoff was seen in Las Vegas last week wearing her ring, the couple has not commented on the breakup, and things have been cold between the couple for some months now, according to E!.

Before Smirnoff was introduced to Penny by Chuck Lidell, a UFC fighter and mutual friend, she had already broken off an engagement to another man: Dancing co-star Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The pair had been hot and heavy for months when Maksim proposed to Karina in 2008, but only nine months later the pair had split up.

Karina Smirnoff also dated DWTS partner Mario Lopez back in 2006. Smirnoff and Lopez were together for almost two years, and remain friends.

Why Did Smirnoff Call Off Engagment?

If the rumors are to be believed, and a marriage between Karina Smirnoff and Brad Penny is no longer on the table, fans of Dancing with the Stars and of the MLB Tiger pitcher are both left wondering: what happened?

One popular theory is that Penny may not have been supportive enough of Smirnoff's career. Though she called Penny a man who supports me and loves me unconditionally, tabloids noted that Smirnoff's fiance was not seen in the audience during a single episode of this season's Dancing With the Stars.

Another reason could be that Smirnoff's most intence and affectionate relationships in the past have been based in the reality competition show, and in her passion for dancing. Seeing and training with Mario Lopez undoubtebly added spark to their relationship, and Smrinoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy could both grow and love through their dancing, a career and a passion both could share.

A source close to the couple, however, feels the answer may be even simpler. They're just different people, the anonymous source told E!. In this source's view, the couple simply outgrew the relationship, and called off the engagement before marriage made the tie binding.

If viewers know Karina Smirnoff, however, it's unlikely the sizzling Dancing star will stay single for long.