Dating rumors are typical fanfare on “Dancing With the Stars,” but none have been able to touch Season 18 champions Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The Ukranian dancer developed a reputation as being an abrasive partner on “DWTS,” but with the 2014 Sochi gold medalist, he had a much softer approach that many thought could only be the result of l’amour.

Karina Smirnoff, “DWTS” pro dancer and Chmerkovskiy’s ex-fiancé, said people should be convinced that ballroom partners are a couple; that’s what it’s supposed to look like.

"When you're on the dance floor...you want to create that story, you want to create something where people believe that what you demonstrated was real," she told Us Weekly at a “DWTS” finale party. "And [Maks and Meryl] were able to do that."

Smirnoff referred to it as “great acting” and said it’s like "when you go to the movies and you see a romantic scene that you believe so much that you kind of believe that they could be a couple in real life."

Even though she might say it’s just an act, Chmerkovskiy’s brother Val explained there is something much deeper that has drawn his older brother and the ice dancer close together: love.

"He definitely loves her, and I know she loves him back," Val, 28, told Us Weekly. He then went on to use a King Kong metaphor and say his brother just wants to protect Davis. “He loves her probably more than I've seen him love another woman -- he loves and adores her -- but it's like a King Kong type of relationship."

Davis’ Olympic partner Charlie White, who also competed on Season 18 of “DWTS” told the news site the dating rumors stem from the connection the ice dancer and Chmerkovskiy were able to make in the ballroom. "To have every reporter ask if they're in a relationship is just a tribute to what they were able to produce on the dance floor."

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

RELATED STORIES