'DWTS' star Peta Murgatroyd shares emotional post on becoming US citizen
"Dancing With the Stars" pro Peta Murgatroyd just shared a major life update.
The New Zealand-born, Australian-raised dancer announced she became a U.S. citizen on Tuesday.
Describing the momentous day as "emotional," she wrote on Instagram: "After countless US Visas starting from 2006 and the last 5 years with a Green Card, I am officially a United States citizen."
Murgatroyd, who married fellow "Dancing With the Stars" pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy in 2017 and gave birth to their first child the same year, shared how much citizenship means to her.
"I’m getting misty eyed writing this, because I haven’t reflected on my life up until this point," she wrote. "I went deep down memory lane and I cried at the ceremony and then really cried in private."
She further explained some of the emotions she had upon being granted citizenship.
"Memories surfaced that I had forgotten about, wishes that I had made as a child in my backyard with a full moon and promises that I made to myself and my family," she wrote. "Everything came full circle and here I was sitting in an auditorium with 1000 people, with my Ukrainian/American husband and my American son ... a girl from little Perth with a big dream of being 'someone.'"
She shared more of her wishes as a kid.
"I dreamt of performing on the worlds biggest stage, I dreamt of people knowing my name, I dreamt of being the best at my craft, I dreamt of making a difference in the world and most of all I dreamt of making my family proud and proving that I could do it at the highest level," she wrote.
The dancer said accomplishing those dreams "wouldn’t be possible without the United States giving me the chance to succeed and live in the best country in the world, where dreams really do come true."
"This country gave me my career, it’s where I found the love of my life, and it’s where my first child was born," she added. "This will always be home now."
Murgatroyd also noted how proud she is to be an immigrant in her post. "I looked around at the auditorium full of immigrants ... their eyes were longingly filled with hope, faith and belief," she wrote. "I am an immigrant too. I will always be one, and I’m proud of it."
"Thank you USA for accepting me, I will continue to work and treat this country with the upmost respect," she added.
