Val Chmerkovskiy DWTS Suspension: How the Pro Is Handling a Week on the Sidelines
The Dancing with the Stars pro will sit out next week’s show after a complaint from judge Carrie Ann Inaba — and Alan Bersten is stepping in for Jenna Dewan.
By The Insider — CelebnMusic247
The ballroom just lost one of its biggest personalities for a week. Val Chmerkovskiy will not dance on next week’s Dancing with the Stars, per Page Six, after producers suspended him over a social media post that judge Carrie Ann Inaba took to human resources.
So, how did we get here? According to Page Six, Inaba filed a complaint about a comment Chmerkovskiy made online, and the show’s producers at BBC Productions moved quickly. In their statement, per Page Six, the producers said the well-being of everyone who works on the show is non-negotiable, called the post inappropriate, and confirmed he will not participate in next week’s show.
To his credit, Chmerkovskiy did not go quiet or get defensive. Per Page Six, he first posted a public apology to Inaba on social media, saying he would do better moving forward. Then, after the suspension landed, he addressed it again the next day — and notably, he did not aim any of it back at the judge.
“Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was,” he wrote, per Page Six. He added that the last thing he wants is to become a distraction from an important week — or from the work his partner is putting in.
That partner is Jenna Dewan, and she is not being left without a pro. The show has announced that Alan Bersten will step in to dance with Dewan for dedication night, per Page Six. A source also told the outlet that Chmerkovskiy has sent Dewan plenty of support and believes she and Bersten will, in the source’s words, crush it this week — and that he is grateful to Bersten for stepping in.
Another source gave Page Six the read from inside the building: “The show felt like they had to do this.” In other words, this was less about one post and more about a production protecting its workplace — and its judges — in public.
What happens next is the interesting part. A one-week suspension is a warning shot, not a pink slip, and Chmerkovskiy’s response — apologize early, apologize again, cheer loudly for your partner and her fill-in — is exactly the playbook for making sure it stays that way. Dedication night is one of the season’s most emotional broadcasts, and Dewan now walks into it with a new partner, a sympathetic storyline and a suspended pro watching from the sidelines, rooting for her.
Sometimes the best move in the ballroom is knowing when to sit a dance out. Val is learning that one in real time.
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Sources: Page Six
