Alan Bersten is stepping in for Val Chmerkovskiy amid his suspension on Dancing With the Stars and will partner with Jenna Dewan for a Viennese waltz during “Dedication Night.”
Apparently there’s been some chatter about Alan being chosen to replace Val, and his girlfriend—fellow pro Emma Slater—hopped into the comments of the below TikTok to defend him, writing “Yeah that’s what happens. We all step in for each other.”
Former DWTS pro Gleb Savchenko has been the most outwardly critical of Alan replacing Val, saying in a TikTok live, “Alan, I think he’s Alan. I mean, he’s just not up to the level of dancing. Like, period. Quality, technique. He’s a good dancer, I guess...for TV. But like, if we talk about, like, art dancing? Like creating art? He’s like eh. I don’t know.”
Gleb added, “I don’t want to talk shit about people, I’m just being honest. I don’t have anything against the guy, I’m just like, why Alan?”
To answer Gleb’s rhetorical question: Alan is an extremely good dancer, a current pro on the DWTS payroll, and he knows Jenna Dewan personally due to being on this season with her. So, it seems like a pretty obvious choice to tap Alan to be Jenna’s partner for the week!