Jenna Dewan’s new Dancing With the Stars partner in Val Chmerkovskiy’s absence has been revealed.
Us has learned that Dewan, 45, will perform her Dedication Night routine with DWTS pro Alan Bersten during the October 20 live show in the wake of her pro partner’s unceremonious absence. (Bersten, 32, was eliminated earlier in season 35 alongside Giada de Laurentiis.)
Dewan will honor her mother, Nancy, with a Viennese waltz set to The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.”
News broke on Saturday, October 17, that Chmerkovskiy, 40, was benched from Dedication Night over his since-deleted comments threatening physical harm towards judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” a spokesperson for BBC Studios said in a statement shared with Us. “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.”
During the Tuesday, October 13, episode, Inaba, 58, criticized Chmerkovskiy’s wife, Jenna Johnson, for including an illegal lift in her Super Bowl Night samba with Harry Shum Jr. The two-time mirrorball champ, 32, and Inaba later cleared the air, while Chmerkovskiy took to social media to defend his wife and her dancing prowess by allegedly threatening to slap Inaba via a reference to the infamous physical altercation between Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
The Ukrainian dance pro issued a public apology to Inaba days later.
“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,” Chmerkovskiy wrote in a Saturday statement shared with Us in the wake of his benching. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
He continued at the time, “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!!”
Neither Inaba, Johnson, Dewan nor Bertsen have further addressed Chmerkovskiy’s one-week suspension from the ballroom. They have all been focused on their upcoming routines.
“Reminder that this is a dance show. It is supposed to be joyous. People are suffering in the world already, so let’s celebrate each other with more love,” Shum, 44, wrote via Instagram on Friday, October 16, praising his fellow competitors including Dewan. “I’ve admired you ever since I met you several decades ago. You are a powerhouse of a performer, but the thing I remember most is how nice and gracious you were to me when I was a young creative trying to figure this industry out.”
He concluded, “Watching you take criticism with grace and just laying it all out on the dance floor each week, I go: ‘That’s the Jenna I know and love.’”
Johnson supported her dance partner in the comments section, adding a heart emoji.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
