Val Chmerkovskiy is officially making his way back to the “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom.
The professional dancer will reunite with his partner, Jenna Dewan, at rehearsals today after he was issued a one-week suspension from the show, sources told Page Six.
“The suspension took Val by surprise, but he took it gracefully and he understood,” a source told Page Sixof Chmerkovskiy, who watched Tuesday night’s dedication themed show from home.
Fellow pro, Alan Bersten, stepped in to dance with Dewan in Chmerkovskiy’s absence. Bersten was eliminatedduring week two with his partner, Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis.
A rep for Val and ABC did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Chmerkovskiy took to social media after his wife and fellow professional dancer, Jenna Johnson, was given harsh criticism from judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
The post in question was a selfie of Chmerkovskiy that read, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” referencing Will Smith infamously slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars over Rock’s joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
BBC Studios, the production company behind “DWTS,” shared in a statement, “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. As a result,he will not participate in next week’s show.”
After Chmerkovskiy’s social media post, Inaba addressed it on her own platform.
“So this is what we’re doing now?” Inaba said on Chmerkovskiy’s since-deleted post. “Thank you @pagesix and @entertainmentweekly for bringing this to my attention.”
Page Six confirmed via sources close to the show’s production that Inaba saw the social media postand filed a complaint with HR, saying she felt threatened.
Chmerkovskiy apologized to Inaba publicly after he was issued his punishment.
“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,” Chmerkovskiy said in a statement to Page Six.
“Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
“The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in,” he concluded.
Dewan has been receiving solid scores this season and was at the top of the leaderboard during last week’s “Super Bowl Night.”
During last night’s episode, hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough addressed the controversy.
“As you can see, Alan Bersten is with Jenna Dewan because Val is not with us this week,” Ribeiro said at the very beginning of the episode after each couple’s introduction.
The post Val Chmerkovskiy’s ‘DWTS’ suspension officially lifted after Carrie Ann Inaba controversy appeared first on Page Six.
