Maks Chmerkovskiy Recalls Parenting Fail When He Let Son Rio ‘Fall Into’ Pool (Exclusive)

Maks Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd aren’t always on the same page when it comes to parenting.

While recalling a recent moment with second eldest son Rio, Chmerkovskiy, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly that he wouldn’t call it a “parenting fail” but more a “parenting choice until it happened and then I realized it was a fail.”

“Rio was walking around the pool and I was on top of him because I knew that he’s about to fall into the pool and I wanted him to learn his lesson, but I wasn’t really sure where this was going,” Chmerkovskiy said, while promoting his new vodka brand Kápa. “But I was ready. I waited until he fell in the pool and I fished him out.”

The former Dancing With the Stars pro noted that he doesn’t think Rio “learned his lesson” because now he “likes jumping in the pool.”

“I think that would qualify as the parenting fail,” he said. “Not only did I let it happen, Peta almost had a heart attack. I thought it was hilarious. He thought it was hilarious. And now the whole thing backfired.”

Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd, who tied the knot in July 2017, welcomed sons Shai, Rio and Milan in January 2017, June 2023 and July 2024, respectively. While Chmerkovskiy noted that he would “absolutely” love to add a girl to their family, he thinks the door is shut for Murgatroyd to carry any additional pregnancies.

“Peta is definitely not going to let it happen out of her body anymore. She’s like, ‘This is not going to come out of this,’” Chmerkovskiy. “I don’t understand these other processes as well at the moment. I’m just not the guy because we don’t have to and I don’t want to force this at all.”

When he’s not busy navigating parenthood, Maks launched his new vodka Kápa — and is celebrating his new venture with an appearance at Elsie’s Rooftop in New York City on Friday, June 6.

“It’s something that I’m proud of and most importantly, it’s bringing me back to New York City,” he told Us. “At the moment, [Kápa is] all over Manhattan and New Jersey and Brooklyn and surrounding areas. These are my stomping grounds.”

As someone with ballroom dance experience, Maks noted he’s proud of his accomplishments in a different industry.

“I do know sales a little bit. It’s also a different crowd,” he explained. “But being a father of three, a husband and all the duties that come with it, I now am of age and in that sort of demographic of like, this is for my people. This is for me to all of you. And it doesn’t have any bad stuff.”