'DWTS' Pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maks Chmerkovskiy Share First Photo of Newborn, Reveal His Name
Maks Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd couldn't be happier about their newborn. The Dancing With the Stars pros welcomed their second child on Father's Day 2023 and recently shared the birth details, including the baby's name, in an Instagram post. "Rio John Chmerkovskiy [heart emoji] Born ~ 6.18.2023 8.6 oz and thriving!" they wrote about the bouncing baby.
They shared exclusive details about choosing their son's name in an interview with PEOPLE. "We loved Rio, which we came upon at the last minute. It's a perfect complement to our long surname!" Murgatroyd said. "We also wanted something easy to say with Shai." Rio's middle name is in honor of Murgatroyd's late father, Derek John, who died in December 2022.
Speaking with the publication in May 2023, Chmerkovskiy discussed their growing family and how special the time has been since dealing with fertility issues.
"He [our oldest son] knew the story kept being that mommy has an egg, and then the egg broke. So finally, at this point, to tell him this egg didn't break, it's a very big moment for him and for us, seeing that baby come," he said. "Now there's kicking, the stomach is moving. Watching my 6-year-old taking in that moment is also very special."
Maks gushed about his expanding family and what he was looking forward to being a father of multiples in a recent chat with PopCulture.com regarding his and his brother Val's partnership with Subway. "I'm just looking forward to doing it all over again. The baby bottles, the sleepless nights, and all that stuff. Our 6-year-old is now entering, he might as well be going on 15," he explained. "And with that, you all of a sudden reminisce about having a baby in the house, so we are looking forward to that part, to having a baby in the house too. My wife has just been looking forward to that moment for our firstborn to have a sibling. She's looking forward to giving birth and doing that stuff again. I'm looking forward to watching her and helping and this time around enjoying it without the stresses of the unknown of what's happening."