Getty Images Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater didn't have romantic chemistry outside of the ballroom.
Longtime “Dancing With the Stars” pro Emma Slater and her season 32 partner Mauricio Umansky had great chemistry while competing. The two became really close during rehearsals and were even spotted out and about together — which caused romance rumors to surface.
Couple this with Slater’s divorce with pro Sasha Farber and Umansky’s separation from wife Kyle Richards, and some fans were all but convinced that there was something romantic going on between the partners.
However, on the March 22 episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, insider Kristyn Burtt weighed in on the chemistry between Slater and Umansky.
“They were very connected, but I think it was a genuine, warm friendship. On the set and everything else, it didn’t feel like, ‘oh my gosh, there’s something going on behind-the-scenes.’ It didn’t feel that way. It just felt like they were supportive of each other, they had a lot of general interests that were similar,” Burtt told podcast host Cheryl Burke.
She went on to say that the two definitely had hot chemistry on the dance floor but that didn’t crossover to outside of the ballroom.
Here’s what you need to know:
Mauricio Umansky Previously Denied Dating Emma Slater
During the season, Umansky and Slater were seen having dinner together and appearing very cozy with one another. Although paparazzi caught the two holding hands while walking through a parking lot, they’ve both maintained that they were only friends and nothing more.
“We do want to address this story,” Umansky said in a video posted on Instagram Stories on October 26, 2023. “About whether or not Emma and I are dating. Whether we went out on a date. For full clarity, we are not dating. We are really good friends. We’ve been dancing together now for six weeks, four hours a day, every single day,” he continued.
“It’s a very intense week. A very emotional week. We were talking about the week during dinner and when we came out of dinner, we were recapping and I reached out to grab Emma’s hand and she grabbed my hand and then we walked to the cars, just recapping and summarizing. And then the paparazzi caught that moment. And it’s become a blown out moment,” he added.
Mauricio Umansky & Emma Slater Reunited After the Season Wrapped
Umansky and Slater finished season 32 in 9th place. The two have seemingly kept in touch since the show ended, and recently reunited.
The “Buying Beverly Hills” star attended the DWTS live tour on March 23, and linked up with Slater.
“So happy to see @mumansky18 last night at the DWTS tour. Ahhhh super grateful that we were partnered on the show, if you met him you already know he’s just the best. Annnnnd he stole the show just by being in the audience,” Slater captioned an Instagram post that included photos of the two together after the performance.
There didn’t appear to be anything romantic going on between the two, however. In fact, some fans think that Slater is dating DWTS pro Alan Bersten.
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