Tamar Braxton & Val Chmerkovskiy: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Val Chmerkovskiy, Val Chmerkovskiy DWTS, Val Chmerkovskiy Dancing With The Stars, Tamar Braxton, Tamar And Val DWTS, Tamar Dancing With The Stars, Vincent Herbert, Val Chmerkovskiy Dating, Tamar Braxton Husband

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Tamar Braxton and Val Chmerkovskiy are the dark horses in the running on Dancing With the Stars season 21. The two have pushed through sickness as well as harsh criticism this season and they’ve managed to pull off some amazing performances. For more information on the DWTS couple, read on below.


1. Tamar Braxton Wrote Her Latest Music About an Abusive Ex

Tamar Braxton recently dropped her album “Calling All Lovers” and there’s a song called “Never.” Braxton confirmed on her Instagram account that the song was about an abusive ex-boyfriend of hers. The lyrics read:

I don’t think you ever even noticed that I’m always cooking dinner, like every single night, tell me do you even care / And I don’t think you ever looked me in the eye, tell me ‘Baby thank you ’cause you do a lot,’ I don’t even know why I’m still here.

Braxton talked about the toxic relationship on her talk show The Real and said:

God really saved me from myself, because I was with the wrong person, and when I was with the wrong person, it made me feel bad about who I was. And because of that he used to beat me down, mentally and physically. It was just a really hard time for me.


2. Braxton’s Husband Almost Died From Seven Blood Clots

On an episode of DWTS, Braxton and Chmerkovskiy prepared a routine that was dedicated to Braxton’s husband Vincent Herbert. She became very emotional after her performance and pro partner Chmerkovskiy posted a heartfelt message on Twitter about the experience, saying:

Thank you for letting me into your beautiful family and allowing me to help create such a special moment for you. Vince you inspired Tamar’s brilliant Rumba! Thank you!

Braxton revealed that a serious health scare rocked her relationship with her husband. Braxton told People:

He had seven blood clots and what I do want to say about that is you’ve got to be really careful. You’ve got to get checked to make sure that your blood is not too thick … If you don’t have a condition, you can still get blood clots and it goes straight to your heart and it kills you. I just remember that he was just so strong, you know, and although it was the most horrible time in my life, he was still my hero. He was very heroic. He didn’t let me know he was in pain.

Braxton and her husband have one son together named Logan.


3. Val Chmerkovskiy Is Going on Tour With the DWTS Pros

Val Chmerkovskiy is, again, going on the Dancing With the Stars Live! Tour. To purchase tickets and check out the tour locations, click here. Other pros from this season who are going on tour include Emma Slater, Keo Motsepe, Lindsay Arnold and Sharna Burgess.


4. On The Real, Braxton Recently Got Into a Racial Feud

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Don't forget to check out #TheReal today❤️

A post shared by Tamar Braxton ❤️ (@tamarbraxton) on Sep 21, 2015 at 6:26am PDT

As a co-host on The Real, Braxton sat down with Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president, and got into a fight about race. When Dolezal said that she checks both the “white” and “black” race boxes when she fills out forms, Braxton jumped right in and said:

You in my house, so let’s get real. White isn’t a race, it’s a state of mind. So you’ve walked the walk of a black woman?” Braxton asks Dolezal, only to be hit by Love who says, “Let me tell you something, I’m black. I can’t be you.

Loni Love then chimed in:

We’re just trying to figure this out to understand where you’re coming from. It was hurtful to a lot of black women … there was some people that felt that you never identified yourself as white. Like when you went to Howard University some people felt like they never knew you were white, you were black. So they felt like maybe the scholarship or when you got admitted to Howard that took an opportunity from a black woman.

Dolezal tried to express an explanation by saying:

I checked white and black because we all have human origins in the continent of Africa.

Braxton then asked Dolezal if she was ashamed of being white.

The episode is set to air this week.


5. Chmerkovskiy Revealed What He’s Learned From Past DWTS Partners

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Val Chmerkovskiy wrote a piece for Glamour Magazine that focuses on what he’s learned from past partners on Dancing With the Stars. When talking about former partner Danica McKellar, Chmerkovskiy said:

Danica McKellar taught me math. I’m joking, but she is a math genius. She taught me that just because you can be successful in Hollywood, it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to choose to pursue Hollywood. She transitioned from a child star into an amazing woman who isn’t just a pretty face.

And, as for Rumer Willis, Chmerkovskiy says:

Rumer Willis showed me how to be a little softer and a little gentler. She showed me the courage that it takes to be a daughter of Hollywood royalty and be battered because of it for years in the tabloids, while still maintaining a kind heart. A caring, beautiful soul, Rumer taught me how to love people when you have a million reasons not to.

Tamar Braxton and Chmerkovskiy describe their relationship together as that of an annoying brother and sister.