Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy Dating Rumors: 'Dancing With the Stars' Season 18 Champs Friends, Not Together

Fans of "Dancing With the Stars" Season 18 champions Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy still hold on to the hope that their idols would end up in each other's arms – not just on the dance floor but in real life.

Davis is an American ice dancer, and with partner Charlie White, she won the 2014 Olympic gold medal for figure skating.

Chmerkovskiy is a Ukrainian American Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer and instructor. He is widely known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series, "Dancing with the Stars." While he made it to the finals five times, two runner-ups and two third place finishes in over 14 seasons, it was when he was paired with Davis on May 20, 2014 that he won his first title. After his win, he announced he was retiring from DWTS as he intended to expand his chain of dance studios and study acting.

Both Davis and Chmerkovskiy have insisted that they are not dating and that they are just friends. At one point, Chmerkovskiy said he thinks they would never date, but that Davis is special and he cares very deeply for her, and enjoys spending time with her. He said he sees their friendship as something that will stand the test of time. The pair has been seen out together, both for professional engagements or appearances and personal time.

Davis, for her part, has been quoted as saying to Glamour magazine that she and Chmerkovskiy "...have become incredible close during the show and sort of coming away from that experience where we were no longer spending every day together, it was interesting to sort of continue to grow our friendship in a different capacity."

She further gushed that she loved him, that he was an incredible person and what they had is not a doubt a life-long friendship, essentially mirroring what Chmerkovskiy had said separately.