Peta Murgatroyd Gets Candid About Why She Decided To Return To Work When Her Baby Was Just 7 Weeks Old


Peta Murgatroyd is speaking out on why she returned to Dancing With the Stars just seven weeks after she gave birth to her first child. In a post titled “Decision Time” on her All Things Fam and Glam blog, Peta revealed that she had always intended to return to the ABC celebrity ballroom competition and that she felt determined to do so right away because she didn’t want to “lose” herself.

Still, Peta revealed that when she got the call from the Dancing With the Stars producers to join the 24th season of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition just a few weeks after she delivered her baby, she was “caught off guard.” Murgatroyd added that DWTS producers were supportive of her new role as a mom and they ensured her that she would have all of the resources she needed to accommodate baby Shai’s needs. Peta was given a rehearsal partner in Los Angeles and access to a full-time nanny. Murgatroyd revealed that she was also allowed the freedom to miss some of the show’s press commitments, including the live cast reveal on Good Morning America.

Peta explained that while she loved that first month of motherhood at home in New Jersey, she knew that returning to work, exercising, and being out in the world again would be good for her. Murgatroyd also felt that she could be an inspiration to other new mothers by returning to such a physical job so soon after giving birth.

“What ultimately made me say yes was that I needed this for me,” Peta wrote.

“I said yes because I knew myself better than anyone else.”

Murgatroyd explained that she had another reason for returning to DWTS just seven weeks postpartum, revealing that she knew it would also help her get her pre-nanny body back. While Peta Murgatroyd admits that it wasn’t an easy decision to return to work, she still says it was “the best decision” that she ever made.

At the start of her DWTS season with celebrity partner Nick Viall, Peta revealed that although she could spend every second of the day with baby Shai, she also knew it was good for her to get back to work.

“That’s not to say it’s been easy,” Murgatroyd wrote on her DWTS blog for People.

“It’s full-on. It’s a huge struggle with scheduling. I have to have my whole day planned out before I leave the house so I know if I’ll be back in time to feed Shai or if the nanny will have to do it. And if that has to happen, I only allow myself to miss one feeding a day.”

Some Dancing with the Stars fans were surprised to see Peta Murgatroyd back on the show less than two months after she gave birth. But it was also a surprise to see Peta’s fiancé, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, competing against her on the show. Maks, who was partnered with Glee alum Heather Morris for Season 24, had been vocal about the fact that he planned to be a stay-at-home dad to baby Shai. Chmerkovskiy told Bravo’s Daily Dish that he had “zero interest” in competing on the next season of Dancing With the Stars and that no amount of money would change his decision.

“I’m going to have a newborn baby,” Maks told Bravo ahead of DWTS Season 24. “I have zero want to do this. I promise you that…Trust me, I really don’t care how this comes across, but there’s no money on the planet that can replace me missing out the three, four, five months of my baby’s life. Zero chance.”

Turns out, neither Maks or Peta had to miss out on their baby’s early months because Dancing With the Stars gave the family full accommodations so they could have a fabulous work-life balance while working in L.A.

You ca see Peta Murgatroyd talking about being a mom in the video below.

[Featured Image by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Evine]

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