DWTS Contestant Defends Backstage Behavior With Pro Partner

Heavy DWTS news update.

Pro dancer Gleb Savchenko and model Brooks Nader have been caught kissing — more than once — in the “Dancing With the Stars” studio.

After fans spied a smooch in the duo’s introduction package on Oscars Night, a backstage kiss was leaked on social media. Nader defended her kisses with her professional partner.

Shortly after the live “Dancing With the Stars” episode aired on September 24, Nader told Us Weekly it was no big deal.

“I kiss everyone I know,” the model told the outlet. “All my friends. I love to kiss, so, like, don’t take it to heart. Don’t take offense. It’s just a peck.”

“She loves to kiss,” Savchenko confirmed.

“We were getting into character,” Nader told People after the performance.

“When we get to dance with each other for five hours a day, and we’re so close and personal and she looks like that, we just kind of develop that kind of chemistry,” Savchenko added, according to the outlet. “It’s natural, and it’s awesome. We’re hanging out and it’s just having a good time, living life.”

Gleb Savchenko & Brooks Nader’s Kissing Was Caught on Camera By a Fan

Following the live show on ABC, the TikTok account @ashleysdiary7 shared a from-the-rafters-view video of the steamy DWTS pair backstage. In the clip, Savchenko, 41, holds Nader’s hands as she leans in for a quick kiss on the lips. She then kisses the pro dancer on the cheek before looking into a large, lit makeup mirror. Nader, 27, was wearing her purple dress for the live show in the short clip.

Several backstage staffers were standing by, and no one seemed surprised by the kissing.

“They def hooking up,” came the cheeky caption to the post.

According to People, the kiss took place in a backstage area that included a press tent. The outlet reported that Nader and Savchenko “couldn’t keep their hands off each other” in the backstage area and even called each other “Babe” and held hands while waiting for makeup.

The backstage video was shared after fans caught an on-camera kiss in the duo’s DWTS package. Ahead of their quickstep to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” Nader gave Savchenko a quick kiss on the lips during their rehearsal, as seen in the footage.

“Gleb is my teacher. I’m a student. I have literally never been more excited to go back to school,” Nader gushed in the package as a clip of her sitting on her partner’s lap played. “We have a really nice time together dancing. All dancing,” she added coyly.

During her critique of the live dance, judge Carrie Ann Inaba mentioned the kiss more than once. She even asked where the kiss was during the couple’s performance. “I was waiting for the kiss in the routine!” she said.

Gleb Savchenko & Brooks Nader Have Both Gushed About Their Chemistry

DisneyGleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader.

Nader and Savchenko have been playing up their chemistry. “We’re so close and personal and she looks like that, and we just developed that chemistry,” Savchenko told People.

The Russian-American dancer also told E! News, “Listen, when you rehearse together for such long hours and days, you create a certain chemistry. Especially like, when we dance together it’s there.” Nader gushed that the two are also “fond of each other.”

Speaking with Us Weekly, she admitted their chemistry will be “a theme throughout the season.” “But it’s a huge bonus to actually really be into your partner,” she added. “You have to be with this person sweaty and on top of them all day for five hours. Every day — not just show day. So, it’s kind of nice that you like each other.”

Although he has chemistry with Nader, Savchenko told TMZ in mid-September that he is not interested in her in a romantic way.