Gleb Savchenko Has Blunt Take on Jenna Dewan’s New ‘DWTS’ Partner After Val Chmerkovskiy Suspension

Former Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko has a blunt take on Jenna Dewan’s new temporary partner, Alan Bersten, for Dedication Night.

Season 35’s Val Chmerkovskiy made DWTS history after the show suspended the pro for one week. Chmerkovskiy landed in the spotlight after a brutal back-and-forth with judge Carrie Ann Inaba, following her critique of his wife, Jenna Johnson, and her celeb partner Harry Shum Jr.

In a now-deleted TikTok post, the professional dancer referenced Will Smith’s now-infamous Oscars slap. In response, show producer BBC Studios issued a statement to NBC News that 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 to the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”

Chmerkovskiy issued his own statement on Instagram Stories: “I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention. Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”

After Bersten (who was eliminated in week two with celeb chef Giada De Laurentiis) was named as Chmerkovskiy’s replacement, former pro Savchenko weighed in on a TikTok livestream, saying, “Alan, I think he’s Alan. Alan, I mean, he’s just not up to the level of the dancing, like period. The quality of the technique.”

Savchenko continued the biting criticism, “Like he’s a good dancer, I guess for TV. But if you’re talking about like art dancing, like creating art? He’s like, eh. I don’t know,” adding, “Like, I don’t have anything against the guy. It’s like, why Alan? Who else is there?”

Bersten and Dewan’s partnership is a one-week-only pairing. Provided the social media war of words doesn’t continue, Chmerkovskiy will return to Dancing with the Stars after his one-week suspension.