That’s one way to get ready for the first dance! Dancing With the Stars couple Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy announced on Good Morning America on Tuesday, February 21, that they’re returning to the smash reality dance competition series following the birth of their son, Shai.
“It’s been some time,” Murgatroyd said Tuesday. “I’m definitely a little bit nervous but I’m very excited to get back. I’m definitely missed the dance floor.”
Murgatroyd, 30, won season 22 of DWTS last May with her partner Nyle DiMarco. The blonde beauty was unable to join the competition during season 23 due to her pregnancy.
WATCH: @PetaMurgatroyd and @MaksimC announce their return to the @DancingABC ballroom following the birth of their baby. #DWTS pic.twitter.com/0GwEPsCUp9
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 21, 2017
“I haven’t been able to defend my title with Nyle,” she added. “So I want to get back out there!”
Her future husband later chimed in, “I don’t know if everybody remembers the history, but the last time we were together on the same season, I won.”
The two are now proud parents to their adorable baby son, Shai Aleksander. Just last week, Murgatroyd revealed on her blog why they chose that name for their baby. “First of all, naming a baby—who will one day be an adult out in the worl—is hard,” she expressed in her blog, All Things Fam & Glam. “It took months and months to find a name that Maks and I both loved and kind of embodied what he means to us. We knew that we wanted a shorter name that wasn’t super-complicated because ‘Chmerkovskiy’ is kind of a mouthful and he’ll always have to spell it out for people. We finally settled on Shai, pronounced ‘shy’ and means ‘gift’ in Hebrew. Honestly, it’s a perfect fit because from the very beginning we felt like this little life we made was the most precious gift God could grant us.”
Murgatroyd told GMA on Tuesday that she’s approaching her post-baby body in the healthiest way possible. “It’s going to take a little bit longer to get back up to the fitness that I was doing and had before,” she expressed. “I think it’s going to be okay, and I’m going to take it slowly. I have an awesome partner to go through this with.”
Indeed, during a visit to The Knot headquarters in NYC last year, the future bride revealed some details about her fitness goals before the wedding. “Who doesn’t want to look incredibly fit and beautiful on their day?” she told us at the time. “I’m used to being fit and active, so it’s been a big change having to slow down a little bit.”
Murgatroyd also hinted at her wedding day gowns—plural. “I’ve realized the dresses that I want. For my actual day, I want a very big dress… a full dress; nothing too crazy,” she told us. “For the party afterwards, I definitely want something that’s fun, and just like a party version of that dress.”
Watch the videos above! Season 24 of DWTS will kick off on Monday, March 20, on ABC.
