Bravo style comes to Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy received a one-week suspension from the show after making recent remarks aimed at judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Val’s comments followed Carrie Ann’s feedback to his wife, Jenna Johnson, who also appears on this season of the show. During her routine, which aired last week, Jenna was seen doing a lift, which, according to Carrie Ann, was illegal. During the judging, Carrie Ann read out the definition of a lift from the official rule book – which she’s done before, drawing boos from the crowd and pushback from Jenna.

Val responded to Carrie Ann’s criticism against his wife by posting on TikTok that fans “almost saw Will Smith enter the ballroom last night”, which, of course, alludes to the 2021 Oscars slap. That came right after Will instructed Chris Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his f-cking mouth.

Following the announcement that he wouldn’t be in the ballroom this week, he apologized to Carrie Ann, saying this via social media:

Naturally, everything I’m referencing was taken down incredibly quick, from Val’s TikTok story with the initial insult to Carrie Ann’s response to it, which she made via Instagram. Essentially, she gave thanks to the “media” for alerting her to his post. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

 So far, tons of people are weighing in – and not just fans and other dance professionals.

 “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 with the show,” said BBC Studios in a statement over the weekend. “As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”

The important thing about this week’s show, and this particular episode that Val will be benched for, is that it’s Dedication Night. It’s a staple episode that we see each season in which the stars typically perform emotional tributes to a friend, family member, loved one who has inspired them in some way. This season, fans are looking forward to seeing Julia Stiles do a contemporary routine to honour the late Heath Ledger, who she starred alongside in 10 Things I Hate About You. Tatyana Ali is dedicating her routine to James Avery, who played her dad in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Val’s partner, Jenna Dewan, is expected to do a tribute to her mother.

Speaking of Val’s partner – we finally have confirmation on who will be taking his place during his suspension. It’s none other than Alan Bersten. Alan is well-known on the dance show circuit, having had a longstanding career in Latin and ballroom dancing and appearing on So You Think You Can Dance as well as working as a choreographer on Dancing with the Stars. He was previously eliminated from the show after being partnered with Giada de Laurentiis. But the news of him stepping in as Val’s replacement is causing even more ruckus.

Gleb Savchenko, a former professional on the show who slammed Carrie Ann’s criticism, weighed in on this during a TikTok livestream, saying the following:

“Alan, I think he’s Alan. I mean, he’s just not up to the level of dancing. Like, period.” He went on to say that while he thinks Alan is “a good dancer for TV”, he had doubts about his ability to deliver when it comes to “art dancing” and “creating art”.

In a slight walk back of his remarks, Gleb said his intention wasn’t to be shady, but to really mull all of the options over. He tossed out the initial B, which was likely in reference to Brandon Armstrong, who was partnered with Ciara Miller from Summer House until their recent elimination. But fans are speculating he could just be being messy because he wasn’t tapped to be a professional on this season of the show – a decision he insists he’s “good” with.

Now, is it just me or is all of this giving Bravo level drama? When I say I love reality TV, I do, just not typically this kind of reality TV. Competition shows haven’t always been my thing. But it seems to me that the direction the show is going in over recent years has been to appeal to fans like me, who speak fluent Real Housewives, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, The Bachelor and Bachelorette, but draw the line at competition. But with this level of drama, not to mention the casting, it’s working.

I mean, let’s look at the full picture here. We have some sort of incestuous cast where there are husbands and wives dancing with professional partners. One gets criticized, their spouse throws shade, it’s addressed within minutes on social media (because we all love some instant gratification) and it makes headline news. Someone gets benched, some sub has to come in, other people from the ecosystem are now throwing shade at the sub and it’s all leading up to this, like, highly-anticipated special episode? Yes please.

But there’s one key thing that all of this drama has in common with what keeps Bravo fans like me locked all the way into every single development – and it’s the push and pull of likeability politics. In this case, we’re talking about Carrie Ann Inaba.

Here’s the thing about Carrie Ann. She’s the only female judge on the panel, so, in true girls girl fashion (or gehls gehl for all my gigglers), we want to root for her. But, historically, she actually hasn’t been that well-received. In the past, she’s been accused by pros like Maks Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd of inconsistent scoring and playing favourites. And currently, people are debating in comment sections about her application of the rules surrounding lifts, which have allegedly been applied unevenly and unfairly depending on the dancer throughout the seasons.

The other thing people are discussing in comment sections is that the professionals really used to go toe to toe with the judges, essentially implying that Val’s post wouldn’t have been a big deal in the earlier seasons of the show. But others are pointing out the fact that this was, in a way, a veiled threat. Some even say it was a direct threat, given that there was an act of physical violence in the same instance he used to frame remarks to Carrie Ann.

So how does how likable she is change the fact that she has a job to do? And how do we define what a threat is and whether that threat was justified? That’s what makes this kind of drama interesting. The stakes are so much lower on shows like Real Housewives and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. There’s really no competition aspect. No one is competing for money or a title or even first place. They’re just doing what they do – arguing and making up. Rinse and repeat. All I know is, this is a show that’s got just as much going on off screen as it does on screen and I, and many others, are here for it.