‘Dancing With the Stars’: Peta Murgatroyd, Maks Chmerkovskiy Cuddle up Ahead of Forced Separation

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd cuddled up together at a lunch in Beverly Hills before preparing to live separately during Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars. Murgatroyd, who will be appearing on the upcoming season of the ABC dance competition, and her husband, who last appeared in Season 25, cozied up together while dining outside amid the coronavirus, clad in masks until they were seated at their table. The photos, obtained by Us Weekly, can be seen here.

The dancers, who tied the knot in 2017 and share 3-year-old son Shai, stepped out together less than a week after Dancing With the Stars confirmed its pro lineup. While Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy have been quarantining together as a family for months, the two will have to live separately for the upcoming season. Pros Emma Slater and husband Sasha Farber told Entertainment Tonight after the show’s casting announcement that in order to keep everyone safe amid the coronavirus pandemic, all competitors will have to live alone, even the married couples.

“It’s so funny, when our amazing producers told us, ‘OK, so we have some news for you, you’re going to have to be quarantined separately,’ I laughed,” Slater said on Aug. 18. “I was nervous, so I just started laughing.” Fellow married pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy and Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov will also be separated due to the rule.

“It’s really important to do these things and it’s great that producers thought of this,” Farber explained. “There’s lots of things happening — masks, social distancing — and this is one way of making sure that everyone’s safe, strong and the show goes on. Because we need this show!”

In addition to Slater, Murgatroyd, Farber, Val Chmerkovskiy, Johnson, Pashkov and Karagach, other returning pros in the Season 29 lineup are Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Gleb Savchenko, Cheryl Burke, Sharna Burgess and Keo Motsepe. Two new pros will be joining the crews this year as well: Britt Stewart, former troupe member and the first Black female pro, and Karagach, a former troupe member and Pashkov’s wife. The full celebrity lineup has yet to be announced, but former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe was confirmed to be competing back in June. Backstreet Boys alum AJ McLean is also joining the cast, Entertainment Tonight reported Tuesday. Dancing With the Stars Season 29 premieres on Monday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.