Jenna Dewan has marked the return of her pro Dancing With the Stars partner Val Chmerkovskiy following his one-week suspension.
“Hi everybody, here we are. We are here for “Halloween Horror Movie Night,” we are doing an Argentine tango to the song “Uninvited,” it’s inspired by the movie 28 Weeks Later,” she said in a Sunday, October 25, Instagram Story clip beside a smiling Chmerkovskiy, 40, that was originally posted via the show’s official Instagram account.
As Dewan, 45, held her camera and spoke to the lens, Chmerkovskiy flashed two peace signs and gazed into the lens himself with two hands placed upon his hips. He then began wiping his forehead and nose with his hands, which led to him jumping in at the end of this video with, “Why am I so oily?”
The comment made the actress laugh with her partner before the video then cut out.
Chmerkovskiy’s return to the reality TV dancing competition comes after he copped a one-week ban on the back of making controversial now-deleted social media comment directed at judge Carrie Ann Inaba that were intended to defend a DWTS dance performance by his wife and fellow pro dancer, Jenna Johnson. (The comment referenced Will Smith’s notorious 2022 Oscars slap in a threatening manner.)
Chmerkovskiy was benched during Tuesday, October 20’s episode, with eliminated season 35 pro dancer Alan Bersten stepping in for him during “Dedication Night.” (Bersten, 32, and his celebrity partner, Giada De Laurentiis, were booted from this season in week 2.)
Just hours prior to Dewan’s recording, the official Dancing With the Stars Instagram account confirmed Chmerkovskiy’s return with a photo of him and Dewan promoting their upcoming routine. “The apocalypse is here Jenna and Val are prepping an Argentine Tango inspired by 28 Days Later for #HorrorMovieNight,” the post was captioned.
The confirmation drew support from fans who looked forward to the duo’s ballroom reunion. “Y’all can hate all y’all want but Val and Jenna doing an Argentine tango is gonna be so good,” wrote one fan, while another wrote, “So happy Val is back .”
For Dewan’s part, she clicked “like” on the confirmation post, and also shared the post via her own Instagram grid.
For Val’s part, the pro has mostly kept quiet despite past pros and fans debating whether Bersten was the right temporary choice to partner with Dewan. He did, however, issue an apology for making the original comments as his words began to attract criticism from fans.
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” Chmerkovskiy wrote via his Instagram Stories on October 15. “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 our internal DWTS family. I should never have made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it. I recognize that I am in a fortunate position to have a platform and to be a role model to some, and I need to treat that with more care by actively pausing to think before I post to ensure what I am sharing aligns with who I am, and who I want to be for you all.”
Two days later, BBC Studios announced their decision to suspend Chmerkovskiy for one week.