Getty Dancers Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson perform during "Dancing with the Stars: Live!"
Professional dancer Jenna Johnson has revealed why she and her husband Val Chmerkovskiy will not be participating in the “Dancing With the Stars” live tour in 2022 — it turns out they have their project in the works. Read on to find out what it is and also why they need to “take [their] time with things.”
Jenna Said She & Val Need a Break
On an episode of Olivia Jade’s podcast — Olivia was Val’s partner during “Dancing With the Stars” season 30 — Olivia asked Jenna about what’s next for her and Val and why they aren’t going on tour with the rest of the cast. Jenna said that they just need a little time to themselves even though it was “hard to say no” to the tour.
“Val and I aren’t going on the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ tour this year, which is wild for us because we’ve been on about seven of them,” said Jenna. “You know, it’s hard to say no because we love performing, but I think it’s time for us to start being our own family and, you know, being married — and not being married on the road or on a TV show. I’m excited to have this moment together and to have some time to just breathe out, take our time with things.”
However, she and Val will actually be on the road for their own project called “24/7 Dance.”
Jenna & Val Will Be Traveling Around the Country Teaching Dance to Kids
Instead of going on the “Dancing With the Stars” tour, Val and Jenna are working with an organization called “24/7 Dance” to do weekend instruction sessions for kids all over the country.
“We go out every weekend we’re in a new city teaching, it’s called ’24/7 Dance.’ We love that. We’re going to be starting up at the beginning of the year, so come January, we’re going to be traveling! I can’t wait. These kids are amazing and the best<” said Jenna.
She went on to say how this is what she “essentially grew up doing as a competitive dancer” and maybe they’ll discover the next dancing superstar.
“This is what inspired me to want to be a dancer, a professional dancer. Basically, it’s a weekend-long thing, you come and take classes, you get to compete with your studio. So we’ll teach about six classes a weekend and it’s full-out dancing, it’s just amazing. It’s awesome,” said Jenna, adding, “There’s like thousands of kids and it’s awesome to see this new generation — these are gonna be the next superstars.”
Jenna also teased that she and Val “have some upcoming projects” that she is “really excited about,” but she’s staying mum for now as to what exactly those projects are.
Either way, Jenna will definitely be back for “Dancing With the Stars” season 31. At the end of season 30, she told CinemaBlend in an interview she will “continue to dance on the show” for as long as her body will allow it. But as for Val, it sounds like this was “probably” his last season on the show, which Jenna says is “awesome” because she can’t wait to see how he branches out from “Dancing With the Stars,” which Val has said includes expanding his brand outside of the show.
Several other pros have also chosen not to participate in the 2022 “Dancing With the Stars” tour. Sharna Burgess has revealed she offered to do the tour part-time, but that just didn’t work out, so she has opted out. Dancers Cheryl Burke, Lindsay Arnold, and Witney Carson are also not going on the tour.
“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it is renewed, it will return in September 2022.