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Dancing With The Stars pro Val Chmerkovsky publicly thanked Allan Bersten to fill in for it during a week’s stop.
“Thank you for stepping in and doing such an amazing job,” Chmerkovskiy, 40, said in an Instagram post Tuesday, Oct. 20, shared by Bersten, 32, who paid tribute to Chmerkovskiy’s Season 35 partner, Jenna Dewan.
“Jenna looks so good and most importantly happy,” Chmerkovskiy continued before cheekily addressing online rumors suggesting he had a few followers. DWTS personalities due to his ban: “You are my new favorite fan 😉.”
The unfounded rumors circulated via Reddit, but fans argued that Chmerkovskiy didn’t follow through on everything. DWTS personality first.
The token of thanks came just hours after the judge Carrie Ann Inaba broke her silence over Chmerkovskiy sitting out Tuesday’s Inauguration Night episode for making controversial comments to Inaba, 58. Jenna Johnsonfor an illegal lift, which prompted Chmerkovskiy to mention going “Fresh Prince” on the longtime judge.)
“Looking forward to an exciting night of shows,” Inaba wrote via Instagram along with a black and white photo of the show’s ballroom floor. “Always and forever a team Dancing With The Stars.”
Val Chmerkovsky
John Maule/Getty ImagesBersten’s Instagram tribute avoided discussing the week’s drama, instead celebrating Dewan, 45, and her mother, Nancy Smithwho appeared on the show amidst the enthusiasm of her daughter’s Viennese waltz.
“I’m honored to step in and dance with @jennadewan you’re so light and it’s so beautiful to see you and your mom share the floor,” Bersten said, drawing applause from fans including his girlfriend Emma Slaterwho left four red heart emojis for her husband.
Two days earlier, Slater, 37, publicly stood up for Bersten online, hitting back at a fan who questioned why he was chosen to step in for Chmerkovskiy this week. “Yeah, that’s what happens, we all step into each other,” Slater wrote on a TikTok clip at the time.
Allan Bersten
Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesUs confirmation on Saturday, October 17, that Bersten, who was eliminated from season 35 previously with a partner Giada de Laurentiisto dance with Dewan in Chmerkovsky’s place.
Before Tuesday’s show, Chmerkovskiy apologized for his comments. “I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote through his Instagram Stories on Thursday, October 15. “I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologize directly and personally and I also want to apologize publicly because I understand that my words affect so many outside of us inside. DWTS a family I should never have made the comment I did and I deeply regret it. I recognize that I am in the fortunate position of having a platform and being a role model for some, and I need to handle that with more care by actively stopping to think before I send an email to make sure that what I am sharing is in line with who I am, and who I want to be for all of you.”
Former Dancing With the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko has thoughts on Alan Bersten stepping in for Val Chmerkovskiy due to his suspension on Inauguration Night. “Alan, I think he’s Alan. I mean, he’s just not up to the dance floor, like, period,” Savchenko, 43, said during a recent fan-recorded TikTok live stream. “[The] quality, the […]
A spokesperson for BBC Studios later said in a statement to Us: “Good luck to everyone who works on it Dancing With The Stars is inappropriate. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone associated with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
