Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd have quite a history together compact with highs and lows, break ups and make ups -- but they apparently wouldn't have it any other way.

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The couple, now engaged, began their love story back in 2009, when they met on the set of the Broadway production Burn the Floor.

"I thought he was arrogant," Peta, 29, told People.

"Okay, that's a defense mechanism," Maksim, 35, admitted. "I think she was in love with me at first sight and just doesn't want to admit it."

After flashing a quick smile, Maksim reportedly looked at his bride-to-be and said, "No, I walked in the way I walk in and... it's just a lot of presence."

Peta later joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars as a Troupe member in 2011. Meanwhile, Maksim had already been a part of the show since Season 2.

"I learned to like him because I found out he wasn't that arrogant," Peta revealed. "He was really generous to the entire cast, and our friendship grew and grew."

Peta confessed "there was always an attraction" between the two dancers but "there was nothing ever done about it."

That's because Maksim was previously engaged to fellow DWTS pro Karina Smirnoff, and Peta was romantically involved with celebrity partner Damian Whitewood.

And then in 2012, Peta was promoted to serve as a pro dancer for Season 13 and both individuals coincidentally became single.

The couple told People they embarked on "friendship dates" and before they knew it, they were dating for real. However, Maksim got cold feet once the pair had been together for a little under a year.

Peta acknowledged she got dumped "out of nowhere" around Valentine's Day 2013.

"My heart was broken," Peta admitted. "But when we were driving to the airport after the breakup talk, he literally asked me why I was taking all my bags and clothes back. I was like, 'We just broke up. Why would I leave anything behind?' That's when I knew it wasn't really over for forever."

"I realized right away that I'd made a mistake," Maksim noted. "So I would take every opportunity to hover around."

During their separation, both reality TV stars dated other people -- or at least the media rumored them to be involved with other people. And then in October 2014, after three months of doing "a little dance," Maksim made the move to get her back.

"I dodged a bullet [by getting another chance] because she could have fallen in love with somebody else and this never would've happened," Maksim told People. "She's my best friend. She makes me a better man."

Maksim proposed to Peta on December 5 during a live performance of Sway: A Dance Trilogy at the Olympia Theater in Miami. They're now planning what Peta hopes to be a dream-come-true wedding.

"I think it's awesome we have a massive history," Maksim explained. "It'll make a great story to tell our kids one day."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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