Jenna Dewan has a new dancing partner for the week.
Earlier this week, Dancing with the Stars put into effect the first-ever pro suspension in its history, benching show veteran Val Chmerkovskiy for one week.
The suspension came following an ill-advised "joke" made against judge Carrie Ann Inaba, following her criticism of his wife, fellow pro Jenna Johnson's latest dance.
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Val's replacement
This week, which is Dedication Night at DWTS, Jenna will instead be dancing with Alan Bertsen, who along with partner Giada de Laurentiis was eliminated earlier in the season.
The two will be performing a Viennese waltz set to The Righteous Brothers song "Unchained Melody," in honor of her mom, Nancy.
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The drama explained
Last week, during Super Bowl Night, Jenna (Johnson) and her partner Harry Shum Jr. performed a Samba, and things got a little heated between Jenna and Carrie Ann, who critiqued Jenna's choreography for having a lift, which are not legal in the Samba, per ballroom dancing rules.
Jenna was taken aback by the feedback, because Harry was lifted by two troupe members, not his partner, which Carrie Ann has accepted as a legal lift in previous seasons.
At the Skybox, host Julianne Hough asked Jenna how she was feeling, and Jenna maintained her shock that is counted as a lift when it was troupe dancers, not her, who did it.
Jenna's husband Val was quick to defend her, writing in a comment on TikTok: "[Put] some respect on her name. [She's] trippin talking to her like that."
He then also posted and subsequently deleted another comment that read: "You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night," seemingly referring to Will Smith's infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, allegedly in defense of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Carrie Ann reposted coverage of his comment to her own Instagram, writing: "So this is what we are doing now?"
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Val's apology and more reactions
Val has since apologized to Carrie Ann privately and publicly, writing on Instagram: "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 of our internal DWTS family."
"I should have never made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it," he continued. "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."
His brother, former pro Maks Chmerkovskiy, speaking on his podcast with fellow former pro Peta Murgatroyd, called out Carrie Ann for her alleged inconsistency, as have other DWTS fans, maintaining his belief that the lift rule only applies to the partners, and not back-up dancers. Some have also noted that Carrie Ann once praised Val himself when he was partnered with Sailor Brinkley, and performed a lift using troupe dancers, which Carrie Ann called legal at the time.
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Lift rules
A lift is when both dancers' feet leave the ground with partner assistance. There are 10 ballroom and latin dance styles when partner lifts are illegal: Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango Quickstep, Cha-Cha, Samba, Rumba, Jive and Paso Doble.
The rule stems from traditional ballroom dancing where multiple people are sharing the same space, and DWTS keeps it in place not necessarily for safety but for fairness, since not everyone will have the same physical capabilities.
Lifts are allowed for Argentinian tango, Salsa, Charleston, Jazz, and Contemporary.