Dancing With the Stars barely addressed Val Chmerkovskiy‘s absence after he was benched over offscreen drama involving judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
“As you can see, Alan Bersten is with Jenna Dewan because Val is not with us this week,” cohost Alfonso Ribeiro shared at the beginning of Dedication Night on Tuesday, October 20.
Later on in the broadcast, Bersten, 32, praised Dewan, 45, for adapting to a changing partner in the middle of rehearsals.
“First and foremost, I know it’s a really unusual situation,” he said in their intro package. “But I feel so honored to step in and help you this week.”
After performing a Viennese waltz to the sounds of “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers, Bersten and Dewan received positive feedback from the judges.
“Jenna, I know this journey has been a lot,” Inaba, 58, said before giving the dance a 10. “But you continue to come out here giving us all your heart, all your soul.”
Derek Hough added, “Jenna, you’re just a class act. A class act.”
Chmerkovskiy’s absence came after Inaba criticized his wife, Jenna Johnson, for including an illegal lift in her Super Bowl Night performance with Harry Shum Jr earlier this month. While Johnson, 32, said she respected Inaba’s feedback, Chmerkovskiy, 40, took to social media to defend his wife by sharing a meme with a reference to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
After some fans questioned whether Chmerkovskiy’s post threatened violence against Inaba, the pro dancer released a statement.
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote via his Instagram Story on Thursday, October 15. “I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologize directly and personally and I also want to apologize publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside our internal DWTS family. I should never have made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it. I recognize that I am in a fortunate position to have a platform and to be a role model to some, and I need to treat that with more care by actively pausing to think before I post to ensure what I am sharing aligns with who I am, and who I want to be for you all.”
Chmerkovskiy continued, “I am truly sorry to Carrie Ann, and everyone I hurt with my careless post. I will do better moving forward. ❤️.”
A spokesperson for BBC Studios later confirmed that Chmerkovskiy would be benched from the show for one week. (His partner, Jenna Dewan, will be performing with Alan Bersten.)
“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” the rep told Us in a statement on Saturday, October 17. “Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
Chmerkovskiy has since spoken out about his absence.
“In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention,” he wrote in a Saturday statement. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
He continued: “The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in. Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
