Kaitlyn Bristowe is hoping to mend her friendship with Dancing With the Stars pro Alan Bersten after calling him “a d–k.”
“Alan still won’t talk to me. He walked right past me [at] Dancing With the Stars,” Bristowe, 38, shared when appearing on the Monday, November 6, episode of Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast. “He won’t call me back, and I have profusely apologized on my podcast.”
The conversation began when former DWTS pro Burke, 39, asked Bristowe whether she’d ever be interested in returning to the show for a hypothetical Bachelor and Bachelorette all-star season. Bristowe said she would, explaining that she’d want Bersten, 29, as her partner. However, they’d have to be on good terms first.
Bristowe has been in hot water with Bersten since referring to him as “kind of a d–k” when warning current contestant Charity Lawson about the show’s male pros. The former Bachelorette star also referred to Bersten as “crazy in the ballroom.”
When chatting with Burke on Monday, Bristowe doubled down on her past comments.
“I call them all d–ks in the most loving way,” she explained. “I truly would want Alan as a partner if they ever did all-stars, because he is such a solid friend to me. We are so close.”
However, Bersten “will not respond or talk” to Bristowe. “It’s sad,” she added.
After her comments went viral, the “Off the Vine” podcast host clarified the name-calling.
“I can be a d–k. We can all be d–ks. Alan is one of my closest friends from the show,” Bristowe shared via Instagram on September 16. “I have nothing but love and respect for him. I think it’s OK to be a d–k and push people to believe in themselves and light a fire.”
Bersten, for his part, said he “kind of” took what Bristowe said as a compliment, but didn’t understand why she would be discussing that topic.
“First of all, I never danced with Kaitlyn, so I don’t know why that would even come up,” the professional dancer explained to Us Weekly on September 20. “I take a lot of pride in my work and I make sure that above all else, my partners feel comfortable and confident in themselves.”
When Bristowe competed on season 29 in 2020, she was paired with Artem Chigvintsev, with whom she won the mirrorball trophy.
“You know, what’s funny is I actually feel like Artem and I had — it [was] like a business,” she told Us in October 2022 of her and Chigvintsev’s partnership. “And then we moved forward, and I haven’t really talked to him, which is kind of sad. I don’t know. He’s busy. He’s dancing every day. He’s got a little sweet boy at home, and he just got married [to Nikki Garcia], which I was so excited for them.”
Currently, Chigvintsev is paired with Lawson, 27, and hasn’t taken any of Bristowe’s previous comments to heart.
“Look, it’s all with a good intention. Because I know sometimes when we have someone who has a great potential, you want to bring it out of them,” he told Us in September ahead of the DWTS season 32 premiere. “It worked for Kaitlyn — she won the mirrorball trophy.”
