'Dancing With the Stars' 2015: Val Chmerkovskiy Wants To Be 'Remembered' In The Show's History
Val Chmerkovskiy's dream of making an impact on ABC's Dancing With the Stars came true this season.
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Chmerkovskiy won Dancing With the Stars with his celebrity partner Rumer Willis during the most recent season, marking this as his first win with the dance competition. The pro joined the show in 2011 and has come close to the Mirrorball trophy several times but the stars aligned this spring.
The dancer spoke with NJ.com recently about his reaction to winning as well as how he felt about making Willis' father Bruce Willis cry.
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"For me, winning isn't just about winning. I want to be remembered as somebody (who) contributed to the history of this incredible show and I wasn't sure I was able to do that unless I won and finally got my name on that trophy," Chmerkovskiy explained.
He is now part of a select group of pros that have won Dancing With the Stars, which includes Alec Mazo, Cheryl Burke (2x), Julianne Hough (2x), Mark Ballas (2x), Kym Johnson, Derek Hough (5x), Kym Johnson (2x), Karina Smirnoff, Peta Murgatroyd, Tony Dovolani, Maks Chmerkovskiy and Witney Carson.
Val also explained that he doesn't necessarily see his celebrity partners as big stars at all.
"I don't look at my partners as stars. I look at them as partners," he said. "For me, the priority is to create a platform whether it's a young student or an older student to help them improve."
He also listed making Bruce Willis cry as a huge accomplishment thus far in his life.
"To see Bruce in tears over watching his daughter do something he never witnessed her do before is one of the biggest accomplishments in my life," Val admitted.
Now that he has won Dancing With the Stars, Val doesn't have as much to prove anymore, though he is still pumped to do it again in the fall.
"Yes, I won and I'm excited to do it again."
Dancing With the Stars returns for another season in the fall on ABC. It will return to its regular Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
