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Fresh off their Dancing With the Stars: Athletes win, Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson came by the Us Weekly studios. The Olympic bronze medalist and the professional ballroom dancer, along with their mirrorball trophy, dished on their “awesome accomplishment” and revealed that Johnson’s boyfriend, fellow DWTS pro Val Chermkovskiy, may have had something to do with their victory.
“Val was so helpful. He was like, ‘Go out there. You never want to look back at your videos and be like, ‘I could have been just a little bit more. I could have given a little bit more,” Rippon, 28, told Us. “It was advice that I took with me all throughout the whole competition. I can tell he loves Jenna so much. And I felt that he wanted it for Jenna so badly and that he was going to help me in any way that he could. I’m so grateful.”
Rippon and Johnson, 24, are planning on spending more time together outside of the ballroom, with Chermovskiy, 32, and the Olympic ice skater’s boyfriend, Jussi-Pekka Kajaala, whom he began dating in April.
“When it comes to the relationship, my mentality is, if you are focusing on yourself, and bettering yourself and doing everything that you need to do to kind of be your best self, then you’re bringing the best version of who you are into the relationship,” Rippon told Us of the secret to his and Kajaala’s romance. “Then if that other person is doing the same, you raise each other up, and you can kind of share these experiences with them. I think that’s how you have the most healthy and the best relationship.”
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