Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy has seen the feedback about his season 35 partner, Jenna Dewan — and her past dance experience — but he isn’t dwelling on the backlash.
Chmerkovskiy, 40, posted an Instagram Reel on Wednesday, September 2, to celebrate the start of the hit ABC show’s latest season. “Some stuff I’m doin lately. I have sooooooo much stuff to share, I promise to be even more transparent this season and take you along for the ride of a lifetime,” he wrote.
The social media post included a screenshot of a message Chmerkovskiy received, which read, “How are you going to deal with all of the ‘she’s already a dancer’ comments?”
In response, Chmerkovskiy clarified he wouldn’t be focusing on the negativity.
“I won’t [deal with it]. Same way I didn’t deal with so many other comments for so many years,” he replied. “I can’t control how others feel about me or mine, but I can control how much love and effort I put into my work.”
Dewan’s casting has left DWTS fans divided, as many have pointed out her past training. The actress began her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and also scored her breakout role in the 2006 dance movie Step Up.
“I do not know how to ballroom dance,” she told Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday. “Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages.”
Dewan, 45, said the DWTS experience has already been a challenge, adding, “There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, brand new technique.”
She continued: “It almost threw me off, initially, because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to.”
Dewan said her dance background made her “a little more nervous” to compete in some ways, because ballroom “feels really foreign.”
“It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done — I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges,” she noted. “But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself.”
Chmerkovskiy also weighed in on the public reception to Dewan joining the competition.
“First of all, it’s naive to think that this show is just about dance. It’s about the human experience and the human journey and how much you’re willing to reveal yourself,” he said. “Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people — and I think that’s our advantage.”
He continued: “The way I approach things is that you’re only as good as the thing that you’ve never done, so I’m going to push her and push us to showcase to the world something they haven’t seen from her yet. That’s a challenge in itself, because we’ve seen her at the highest form of dance and what that expression can look like.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
