Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Jennifer Lopez are strictly platonic, according to multiple sources, although recent rumors suggest they're dating.
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"They are friends," a source close to the 44-year-old American Idol judge told Us Weekly.
"He performed with her on the [2013 American Music Awards]. But [they're] just friends. She doesn't have a second to date anyone right now and it is definitely not romantic with Maksim."
Lopez is currently busy promoting her tenth and latest studio album A.K.A., which gets released June 17.
However, another source told the magazine Lopez's best friend Leah Remini -- who, with her seventeenth-season Dancing with the Stars pro partner Tony Dovolani, introduced Chmerkovskiy to the "I Luh Ya Papi" singer -- really wants the pair to get romantically involved.
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"Leah is trying to play matchmaker with Maks and Jennifer," said the second source. "She's really egging it on and encouraging it."
Lopez reportedly attended Chmerkovskiy's brother Val's 28th birthday party in late March at The Redbury Hotel in Los Angeles.
Lopez split from Smart, a 27-year-old backup dancer-turned choreographer, in an "amicable process that started a few months ago," according to an Us insider.
Chmerkovskiy, 34, has apparently been single since his last relationship with Sports Illustrated supermodel Kate Upton ended in December although reports have circulated for weeks he's interested in his eighteenth-season Dancing with the Stars partner Meryl Davis. Chmerkovskiy and Davis, who won the season together, have both denied the dating rumors.
It has yet to be confirmed whether Lopez and Chmerkovskiy will return to their respective reality shows. Chmerkovskiy has recently suggested he might like to serve as a Dancing with the Stars judge going forward, while Lopez is expected to sit on Idol's judging panel again with Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban for Season 14.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski