Val Chmerkovskiy Opens up About His Upcoming Memoir

Val Chmerkovskiy knows his name is hard to spell, but that doesn’t mean he’ll change it.

The Dancing With the Stars pro has announced that he is releasing a memoir, I’ll Never Change My Name, telling PEOPLE that he wants to use the opportunity to stand as his own person and detail his journey from poor Ukrainian immigrant to professional dancer.

However, he did reveal that his brother, Maksim, plays a major role in the book.

“While reading this book you’ll quickly realize that my memoir is more like our memoir because [Maks] plays such a prominent role in my life,” Chmerkovskiy explained. “I love him dearly, and only he and I truly understand and value our bond. We’ve shared so many life-changing experiences together and I owe a lot of my life to him.”

“I was very lucky to have an older brother. For most of my life, he bulldozed through heartaches and disappointments while I walked behind him enjoying the wisdom of hindsight, Chmerkovskiy added.

Along with stories about his family, Chmerkovskiy said that the book does cover some of his journey with Dancing With the Stars.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” he said. “But I do discuss my experience on the show and provide a behind the scenes perspective that will enlighten the reader on what was really going on in my head during my 13 seasons on Dancing with the Stars.”

Chmerkovskiy added that his biggest hope for the book is to inspire others.

“I hope to inspire at least one person to pursue their dreams and go after their passions no matter how absurd they may seem to the outside world,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m an Eastern European immigrant from South Brooklyn making a living doing Latin dance on a reality show in Hollywood. To quote one of my biggest influences, the great poet Christopher Wallace, ‘It was all a dream!’”

I’ll Never Change My Name is set to publish on March 6, 2018.

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