Peta Murgatroyd Talks Returning to ‘Regular’ Life With Maksim Chmerkovskiy After His ‘Traumatic’ Escape From Ukraine (Exclusive)

Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy are getting back into their “regular daily life” as a family after the Dancing With the Stars alum’s harrowing escape from Ukraine amid Russia’s February invasion of his home country. Murgatroyd opened up to PopCulture.com about the aftermath of her family’s “traumatic” ordeal as Chmerkovskiy continues his humanitarian work for the people of Ukraine. 

“It has been kind of like a life-changing experience, I will say,” the dancer and Peta Jane Beauty founder told PopCulture. “I never thought that we would kind of be going through something like this in our lifetime, but we are doing good.” Chmerkovskiy recently returned from Turkey, where he was working with his charitable organization Baranova 27, and the family is working now to raise as much money as possible to support the people of Ukraine. “So yeah, we’re just concentrating on that and getting back into our regular daily life,” Murgatroyd shared. 

Now that things have “calmed down” after Chmerkovskiy was able to flee Ukraine by way of Poland, Murgatroyd said he is in “a good spot” mentally. “I feel like the stress has kind of been lifted off of him,” she shared. “He’s doing a lot of good work and spending a lot of quality time with us too.” The former DWTS pro continued, “I never thought that this type of situation would make you closer, but I really do feel that it made us closer – if we could get any closer. It’s just something, when you go through something like that, where it was so dire, so traumatic. So…I hate to say life or death, but yeah, it was really bad.”

Murgatroyd is even flying with their 5-year-old son Shai down to Florida in the upcoming days to spend time with Chmerkovskiy as he teaches at one of their dance studios. She’s already rocking her summer tan, too, thanks to Peta Jane Beauty’s tanning line, which received the honor of Best Self Tanner at New You Media’s 2022 Beauty Awards. Murgatroyd told PopCulture she was inspired to develop self-tanning products after years of searching for the perfect tan that was suitable for the stage and daytime without giving an orange “Oompa Loompa” glow.

“I love that we’re suitable for all skin types,” Murgatroyd shared. “It’s always got the backing of it’s about your confidence and how a good tan can make you feel so much better about going out, wearing the clothes you want to wear – if it’s on stage or if it’s on the street. This is a product that can do both, and that was my main mission … I could never find a tanning product, and I’ve been tanning for like 18 years. So I’ve tried them all, believe me.”