Val Chmerkovskiy is facing a weeklong suspension from Dancing with the Stars over his “Oscar Slap” comment aimed at Carrie Ann Inaba. And due to him sitting this week out, Jenna Dewan has been temporarily partnered with Alan Bersten—who was eliminated earlier this season along with his celeb partner Giada de Laurentiis.
While Jenna hasn’t said anything about Val specifically, she and Alan cheerfully popped up on the DWTS Instagram account, where Jenna said “Hi everybody. It’s Dedication Night and we are dancing a Viennese waltz to ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers, the greatest, most romantic song ever.”
Jenna added that she was “so excited” about the dance, while Alan smiled enthusiastically (and also didn’t mention anything about Val).
A source recently told Variety that “Jenna Dewan is aware and has continued to be a true professional and respectful of the process. Jenna is a beloved part of the Dancing with the Stars family, and we are grateful for the joy and positivity she brings to the show.”
Meanwhile, Val made a statement, saying in part, “In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, 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 judgement, and I hate that she was.”