Maks Chmerkovskiy Shares Peta Murgatroyd’s Hilarious Reaction to His ’Traitors’ Fate (Exclusive)

Maks Chmerkovskiy didn't exactly get the warmest welcome when he returned home from The Traitors.

The former Dancing With the Stars pro was prematurely banished in Episode 3 of the Peacock competition's newest season, after his castmates — led by professional boxer Deontay Wilder — suspected him of being one of the titular Traitors. Instead, Chmerkovskiy revealed himself to be a Faithful, leaving his costars confused as ever.

So, when he got home from the series, Chmerkovskiy's wife Peta Murgatroyd — who gave birth to the couple's first child Rio in June 2023 — wasn't totally impressed by his performance.

"She said, 'Here's the baby,'" he exclusively told The Messenger, miming Murgatroyd handing over their child. "She said, 'Here you go! You're it!'"

Chmerkovskiy didn't stick around to find out the true identities of the Traitors, which currently include Big Brother's Dan Gheesling, Survivor's Parvati Shallow and Married to Medicine's Phaedra Parks.

Even though his time on The Traitors was cut short, however, Chmerkovskiy said he was grateful for the opportunity to take some time for himself, especially after starring on DWTS for over a decade from 2006 to 2018.

"It was a couple of weeks in my life that I got to myself amidst the last decade of sort of not belonging to myself at all. I mean, it's great. It's what I want to do — I want to raise my kids. I want to do it right, so there's a lot of sacrifice," he explained. "That's why these people got to know me at my probably best. So I was glad that I was self-represented the right way, as well."

Another moment Chmerkovskiy is thankful for? His epic mic drop after the unsuccessful banishing ceremony.

"It was one of the best TV moments that I've been a part of!" he said. "I'll look back at it and I'll see what I was wrong. I went off with all guns blazing in every direction. But to realize that the game psychologically puts you in a state where you are on your own — it's excellent."

Watch Chmerkovskiy's exit and more on the first three episodes of The Traitors Season 2, which are now streaming on Peacock. New episodes premiere Thursdays at 9/8c through March 8.