Heavy/ABC Anna Trebunskaya says Gary Busey slapped her butt during rehearsals.
Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Anna Trebunskaya has revealed that her season 21 partner did something mildly inappropriate to her during rehearsals.
On the February 26, 2024, episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Trebunskaya recalled when Gary Busey “slapped” her on the behind.
“With Gary, it was never directed at me. It was always… with him I felt respected. I felt that he trusted me. He knew I had his back. I was his teammate. And we looked out for each other,” the ballroom pro said of her partnership with Busey.
“Gary never crossed the line with me. With one sense though, he did do something,” she continued. “I actually had a talk with his wife. And I talked to her and I said, ‘Stephanie… just to let you know, this has happened and I’m not sure if I talk about it with Gary.’ And she’s like, ‘I know this is not conventional,'” Trebunskaya recalled.
When podcast host Cheryl Burke asked Trebunskaya what happened, she responded, “he slapped by butt,” she said, comparing it to a sort of “well done, coach.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Anna Trebunskaya Said the Interaction Was Filmed During DWTS Rehearsals
A field producer had been recording Trebunskaya and Busey during their rehearsal when Busey went in for the butt tap. The ballroom pro said that she talked to the producer about what happened, but there weren’t any consequences.
“He didn’t think nothing of it,” Trebunskaya said on Burke’s podcast. “I talked to Gary’s wife. And I said, ‘Stephanie, this happened. I’m not super comfortable with this.’ And she’s like, ‘don’t think of it twice. He respects you so much. He so adores you. This was more like a football player thing,'” she recalled.
“Again, different generation, different upbringing, and like, that’s just not something I do to my clients or my partners,” she said.
Busey and Trebunskaya were eliminated in 10th place that season. His week one dance — the cha cha cha — earned him three fives from the judges. On week two, he earned sixes across the board for his foxtrot and fives for his Paso Doble. Week three, Busy improved with his tango, and even earned his first seven. His week four jazz routine may have been his best dance of the competition, but he was eliminated that night.
Gary Busey Famously Called His Elimination ‘False’
In typical Busey fashion, the actor had something to say when he learned that he and Trebunskaya were the bottom couple of the week.
Busey said that he learned “things I had in myself that I could emphasize on and better with and from and in and this has been a beautiful experience,” according to ABC News. It’s what he said next, however, that got a chuckle out of the audience — and made headlines.
“The fact that I’ve been eliminated is false because my spirt with Anna’s partnership will remain in this room throughout the show, so you won’t see us dancing but we’ll be there,” he said after Tom Bergeron told him he would be the one going home that night.
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