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Gleb Savchenko admitted he spent a little bit too much time with his co-stars during the “Dancing With the Stars” Live Tour.
Savchenko was the main dancer on the tour alongside fellow DWTS pros Brandon Armstrong, Rylee Arnold, Alan Bersten, Daniella Karagach, Pasha Pashkov, Emma Slater, and Britt Stewart.
Speaking with The U.S. Sun in a May 2024 interview, Savchenko revealed that after traveling to dozens of tour dates across the country (there were 64 dates total), he needs a “break” from his co-stars. “I’m in touch with them,” the Russian American dancer said. “We just finished a month ago, so we all want a little break. We were stuck on one bus for four months altogether, so we don’t want to see each other, but we still connect.”
The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Cast Had Cramped Quarters on the Tour Bus
The 2024 edition of the traveling “Dancing With the Stars” Live show kicked off on January 11 at Altria Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, and wrapped on March 27 at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, according to Deadline.
Pro dancer Rylee Arnold gave fans a look at just how cramped the quarters were for the dancers, who traveled by bus. In a TikTok video posted at the beginning of the tour, Arnold showed a luggage storage space beneath the vehicle. The actual bus was the group’s “living space.” The tight space featured a kitchenette, a dining area with booth-style seating, and a hang-out space with a couch. There were also eight bunks for the pro dancers to sleep on, all with privacy curtains.
There was also an extra area for celebrity guests such as season 32 contestants Charity Lawson and Harry Jowsey, to sleep on.
Many DWTS Dancers Have Been Friends Since Childhood
ABC
Of course, the bus bunks could remind some of the “Dancing With the Stars” pros of the old days and childhood sleepovers. Many of the cast members have been friends since they were kids.
Speaking on the “Conversations with Olivia Jade” podcast in 2021, DWTS pro Jenna Johnson talked about being childhood friends with several other professional dancers on the ABC dancing show. “In Utah there, for some reason, is this massive dance hub,” she said on the podcast. “So, I actually grew up dancing with Lindsay [Arnold] and Witney [Carson] and Brandon [Armstrong]. We’re all the same age, and they were my best friends growing up.”
Many of the future DWTS pros trained at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, Utah.
Former DWTS pros Derek Hough and Mark Ballas were also childhood besties and consider each other “brothers.”
“You know, Derek and I have been friends since we were 10,” Ballas told Us Weekly in 2022. “Like, we’ve lived together, we went to school together every day. Dude used to steal my clothes. Like, we’re friends, you know what I mean? Brothers even.”
While Savchenko grew up in Russia and didn’t meet his co-stars until he was older, he considers them family. “We’re a family,” the 40-year-old DWTS pro told the U.S. Sun. “We’re this big dysfunctional family you could say.”
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