Davis, White won’t put their bond on ice
Skaters tackle ‘DWTS’ together, even as they twirl into the arms of new partners
The ice-dancing darlings of the Sochi Winter Olympics are going their separate ways for the first time in 17 years.
Gold medalists Charlie White and Meryl Davis will hit the ballroom with new partners to compete against each other tonight on Dancing With the Stars.
But talk to them, and you still hear the word “we.” A lot.
The two, who have said they are not dating each other but are in relationships with other people, are approaching the competition just as they did the Olympics — “together,” Davis says. “We’re practicing with our partners, but every night, we’re talking about our experiences. ‘Is this sore or that sore?’ We’re feeling like it’s a partnership regardless of the separation.”
White echoes Davis, even in separate phone interviews.
“We’re on the same page,” he says. “Coming off the Olympic gold that we just won, we’re coming into this not as this die-hard competition. Obviously our competitive spirits will take over at some point, and we’re looking forward to learning a lot. We feel like we’re in it together. Seven- teen years of partnership — it’s certainly going to be a tough habit to break.”
She’ll be dancing with bad-boy ballroom pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy. And he’ll be dancing with Australian pro Sharna Burgess.
“I don’t want to say he’s not a bad boy, because everyone enjoys seeing him that way,” Davis says. But “I’m finding that I’m so impressed with him on and off the floor. His style of teaching I’m very comfortable with.”
Maks can be a brute. Isn’t he going to make her cry?
“That’s not going to happen,” she says. “Something I learned long ago is that a coach is trying to make you better and to be the best version of yourself.”
It would seem Davis, 27, and White, 26, might have an advantage.
Conrad Green, Dancing’s executive producer, says he knows they’ll be “very pretty dancers. In ballroom, they’ll probably be pretty strong.” But “a lot of people come in with different skills for the show. They’re used to having their legs fixed on ice.”