Val Chmerkovskiy resumes work on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ with Jenna Dewan after 1-week suspension

After a week of staying away from the dance floor on ‘Dancing with the Stars,' pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy is back in action. The dancer will be joining his celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, for the upcoming episodes.

He was suspended for a week from the show following his controversial comments about one of the show’s judges. Val Chmerkovskiy resumes ‘DWTS’ tenure after 1-week suspension The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that Chmerkovskiy has already resumed rehearsing with ‘The Rookie’ star Jenna Dewan for the upcoming episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

In his absence, dancer Alan Bersten, who had also been a part of this season with chef Giada De Laurentiis, was earlier eliminated in the second season and joined Dewan. The two rehearsed and put together a routine for this week’s dedication night.

What did Val Chmerkovskiy do?After Judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized Val’s wife, Jenna Thompson, who is also a part of the show and is paired with Harry Shum Jr., Chmerkovskiy shared some controversial comments on his social media channels. After Carrie had called out Jenna for a lift she included in her routine, Val had posted, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night," referencing the 2022 Oscar incident when Will Smith had slapped Chris Rock on live television for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

While he deleted the post soon after, Carrie still got to know about what he had to say through some media outlets. She herself posted about the comment online, saying, “So this is what we are doing now?” and further thanking outlets for bringing the matter to her attention.

Soon after, the production team behind ‘DWTS’ confirmed in a Deadline report that Val has been suspended from the show for a week for his behavior. The official statement read, “The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable.

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."Val also issued his own apology after the incident, writing “I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post.

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 of our internal DWTS family," in a social media post. He concluded the post by writing, “I will do better moving forward."The dancer had also posted about supporting Jenna Dewan and Alan Bersten for this week’s performance and how he would be watching the show from home and cheering for the pair.

About the coming week of 'Dancing with the Stars'‘Dancing with the Stars’ airs brand new episodes every Tuesday. There were no eliminations this week on the show; however, next week, the judges confirmed on the show that this week's votes will carry forward to the next week, and two couples will be axed in the coming episode.

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Key quotes

• “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,”

• “So this is what we are doing now?”

• “The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable. 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.”

• “I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post. 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 of our internal DWTS family,”

• “I will do better moving forward.”