Karina Smirnoff was born Karina Smirnova in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on January 2, 1978. When she was five years old, she began taking ballet lessons, followed by gymnastics, aerobics, figure skating, ballroom dancing and piano. She chose to pursue ballroom dancing. In 1992, Smirnoff emigrated to the United States, and is reportedly a naturalized United States citizen.
She is a graduate of Fordham University, where she majored in both economics and information system programming. Smirnoff originally wanted to go to law school, but instead, her passion for dancing led her to win the US Open thrice, the Asian Open twice and the Dutch Open and the US National Professional Championships five times. She has trained under famous dance coaches such as Espen Salsberg, Donnie Burns, Tone Nyhagen and Ralf Lepehne, and was given a small role in the dance movie Shall We Dance?, where she shared the screen with fellow dancer Tony Dovolani.
Karina Smirnoff first participated in the ABC reality series, Dancing with the Stars, during the show’s third season. She was paired with actor Mario Lopez and ultimately placed second, losing to the tandem of dancer Cheryl Burke and NFL star Emmitt Smith. After the season wrapped, Smirnoff and Lopez began dating, and are currently living together. For the fourth season, Smirnoff was paired with singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, where they finished fifth. For the fifth season, she was paired with boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. where they were the fourth couple eliminated. On season 6, Smirnoff is paired with R&B singer Mario.
She is a five-time U.S. National Champion, World Trophy Champion, and Asian Open Champion. Smirnoff has won the title at the UK Open, is a three-time champion at the US Open, two-time champion at the Asian Open, five-time champion at the Dutch Open, and five-time US National Professional Champion. She has been ranked second in the world and took second at the British Open Blackpool Dance Festival.
She is "the first woman to ever make the British Professional Final with three different partners".
Smirnoff has appeared nude in a PETA advertising campaign -with the tagline "I'd rather dance naked than wear fur".
Smirnoff dated actor Mario Lopez after having been partnered with him during the fall 2006 third season of Dancing with the Stars. The relationship lasted from fall 2006 until June 2008.
She began dating a fellow Ukrainian and fellow Dancing With the Stars dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the summer of 2008. Just six months later, they announced their engagement on December 31, 2008. Smirnoff and Chmerkovskiy had performed together professionally at the 2007 ALMA Awards. Their engagement ended in September 2009 after nine months. In October 2009, Smirnoff began dating MLB pitcher Brad Penny.
Last news, Karina Smirnoff will pose nude in the May issue of Playboy and grace its cover, UsMagazine.com has confirmed.
"The May issue of Playboy is unforgettable with Dancing With The Stars' Karina Smirnoff on the cover & nude inside," the Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, 84, tweeted on Wednesday.
Playboy won't be the only 2011 milestone for Smirnoff, who's partnered on this season's DWTS with front-runner Ralph Macchio: She's getting prepped to be a first-time bride!
Last November, Smirnoff got engaged to baseball player Brad Penny, who popped the question with a $95,000 ring. Smirnoff told Us they're planning on a wedding in "November or October" 2011.
"We are still figuring out when and where and how big or small," she said. "Our guest list is already growing!"
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