‘DWTS’: Peta Murgatroyd on If She Wants Son Shai to Follow in ‘Dancing’ Footsteps (Exclusive)

Peta Murgatroyd and her husband, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, are the first couple of the Dancing With the Stars world. The two welcomed their son, Shai, together in January 2017. Will he follow in his parents’ dancing footsteps? During an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Murgatroyd shared her thoughts on the matter.

Murgatroyd sat down with PopCulture.com for the @Home video series, during which she spoke about her beauty line, Peta Jane Beauty and her new self-tanner collection (which is currently available on PetaJaneBeauty.com). Of course, the conversation soon turned towards DWTS and, more specifically, about how her son recently ventured into the world of dance by starting some classes. When asked about whether she envisions Shai becoming a professional dancer in the future like his parents, Murgatroyd explained that she simply wants to leave that decision up to him.

“I don’t think I’ve sort of mapped out what I want for him or what I think he’s going to be great at,” Murgatroyd said. “You know, I know that he loves music. I know that he loves dancing. At first, he didn’t really want to go to dance class. We have him in a little once a week.” She added that his dance class isn’t necessarily teaching him the ins and outs of the Paso Doble, but that it’s “very basic and simple and they run around a lot and have fun. It’s more about, you know you’re not listening to Mama or Papa now — it’s listening to the teacher and you stand on your spot and you point your right leg forward.”

The DWTS star continued to say that she wouldn’t want her son to feel any “pressure” about stepping into the dancing world, as she wants him to figure out his own passions in life. Murgatroyd said, “I’m not opposed to him dancing, I just want him to love it and not think that he has to do it because we did it.” Shai has indeed made some headway in the world of dance, as Murgatroyd said that he has started dance classes. However, Chmerkovskiy has also publicly weighed in on his son’s dancing future, and he seems to be of the same mindset as his wife when it comes to Shai’s career track. In February, Chmerkovskiy told E! News that he would be hesitant about him becoming a professional dancer, as it’s way too early to think about whether that’s the right move for him.

“I drop him off at dance, and I walk away because I don’t want to sit there and be like, ‘Point your toes, Shai’ and ‘Do the right thing,’” he told the outlet. “He’s 4. I want to let him live. I started dancing at 4, and it just never ended, never stopped being a career, and I don’t want that for him. I want him to have experiences, not goals, at 4.”