Dancing With the Stars Duo Karina & Maks Split!

Tue., Sep. 8, 2009 12:30 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Joe Kohen/Getty Images

Welcome to today's episode of Splitting With the Stars.

I just learned that the dance-happy duo of Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy have uncoupled and called off their long-pending nuptials.

"I am confirming that they did indeed break up," Karina's rep tells me. No word yet from Team Max.

Word of the split comes just a month after they debuted on Broadway in Burn the Floor. In retrospect, we may have missed signs of trouble back on the eve of that show's debut, when they told us their busy schedule, including the upcoming season of DWTS, would delay their vow swapping until next summer...

"We don't plan," Maks said. "We're [rehearsing] 14 hours a day."

"The only thing we've decided on is next year in June," Karina added. "We were supposed to pick the place, but we've never actually had the time to go further."

"We don't feel like we're missing out on the wedding-dress fittings," Karina continued (perhaps somewhat ominously in retrospect). "As long as we're together, tying the knot is a plus. It's something extra."

Or not.

But despite the split, I am told the ex-duo will live up to Emmy obligations and dance together at the awards show as I originally reported. However, they have now—no surprise—requested separate dressing rooms.

(Originally published Sept. 8, 2009, at 11:15 a.m. PT)

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Will Karina and Maks turn to their new onscreen partners for solace? Share your predictions in our season-nine photo gallery!