Karina Smirnoff will be waiting a little longer to dance at her wedding.
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The Dancing with the Stars professional partner has confirmed she has postponed her wedding to fiance and Detroit Tigers pitcher Brad Penny but says the delay is just due to time constraints and not relationship issues.
"It's just right now, the hype of the season and the amount of work that [J.R. Martinez and I] put in and the fact that Brad was in the playoffs and they just got done, there's absolutely no time," Smirnoff told People following Dancing with the Stars' performance show Monday night.
"I want to enjoy this and I want to enjoy planning the wedding, and doing it together is just really hard."
Smirnoff and Penny had set January 21, 2012 as their wedding date, but the 33-year-old dancer said she had to push it back because she owes Martinez, the Iraqi war veteran and All My Children soap star she is partnered with on Dancing with the Stars' thirteenth season, her full attention in the competition.
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"I got an amazing partner. We spend so much time at the studio because we have a great shot at [winning the mirror ball trophy]," Smirnoff said, referencing how the couple had topped the judges' leaderboard for the second time this season on Monday.
"We truly enjoy putting together these great routines and Brad has been gone as well. So once [Dancing with the Stars' thirteenth edition] is over, we're going to concentrate on the rest of our lives."
Once Smirnoff's wedding planning resumes, Martinez joked that he hopes to be a part of the ceremony.
"I want to be one of the bridesmaids!" Martinez suggested.
"He will! He will," Smirnoff said playfully.
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Smirnoff began dating Penny in October 2009, shortly after she and fellow Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy called off their engagement and ended their relationship. Penny then proposed a year later in October 2010.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski