Kelly Monaco & Valentin Chmerkovskiy In 'General Hospital' Together [PHOTO]
Kelly Monaco and her "Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars" partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy took their friendship off the dancefloor and on to the set of the soap opera "General Hospital."
Chmerkovskiy is set to appear on the show in December and ABC released a photo showing the professional dancer without his shirt on with filming the episode. He will appear in a scene alongside Emmy winner Nancy Lee Grahn who plays Alexis, a lawyer and Monaco's mom on the show.
Chmerkovskiy said he walked on set not knowing that he would have a dialogue with Grahn's character.
"I didn't know, coming into the set, like what my job was going be," he told Access Hollywood. "I thought I was just going to walk by, but they gave me lines."
However, Monaco said "he learned them really fast" and that fans would be impressed with his performance.
"He did really well," she told reporters.
Monaco and her partner came in third place in the season finale of "Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars," which aired Tuesday on ABC. Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson her partner Derek Hough came in second and the Mirror Ball Trophy went to "Bachelor" star Melissa Rycroft and her partner Tony Dovolani. Rycroft was the only celebrity finalist to never win a Mirror Ball Trophy and the win was also a first for Dovolani, after being on the dancing competition for 14 seasons.
Monaco won the first season of "Dancing with the Stars." All season long, viewers speculated that Monaco and Chmerkovskiy were in a serious relationship because of the on-screen chemistry they portrayed. They kissed during one dance routine, were constantly seen cuddling and spoke of the bond they developed by dancing together.
"The most surprising thing for me out of this whole experience is the bond that I've made with Val," Monaco said Monday. "Just being able to have a friendship like that was unexpected and is just priceless. I don't want my journey with Val to end. Dancing with him has been one of the best experiences of my life."
When they were asked about their romance during Tuesday's finale, Monaco said their relationship "is a foundation of an amazing friendship."
Chmerkovkiy added, "This is what it is. It is unconditional love for one another. Whatever that label is. It doesn't have to be a boyfriend and girlfriend. It's a relationship that I cherish. She could rely on me and I know I could rely on her."