DWTS Kids Meet in ‘Epic’ Baby Playdate

Heavy Two more DWTS babies got to hang out together and fans gushed over the encounter.

Two “Dancing with the Stars” couples gave their babies a chance to meet for the first time since their births, and DWTS fans loved seeing the results.

Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy welcomed their first child, Rome, in January. He was the first of a handful of new “Dancing with the Stars” family babies born in 2023, and as a result, he has had a chance to meet many of the subsequent newcomers. In early July, Rome met his new cousin Rio, when his parents spent time with fellow pros and family members Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd. In May, Rome had a chance to meet baby June Cusack, the newborn daughter of Lindsay Arnold, and her husband, Sam Cusack. Now, it was time for Rome to hang out with another newcomer.

Here’s what you need to know:

Rome Chmerkovskiy Met Nikita Pashkova

On July 18, a string of Instagram Stories showed Val and Johnson spending time with Karagach and Pashkov. A couple of the videos that were originally posted on Karagach’s Instagram Stories were shared in the “Dancing with the Stars” subreddit, and fans swooned over seeing Rome and Nikita together. Some of the same shots were later added to Karagach’s Instagram feed.

The first clip seemed to have been filmed by Karagach, as it showed the other three parents leaning over the babies. Nikita and Rome were next to one another on top of an elephant pillow on the floor, and Val was trying to get the babies to look up together as Johnson attempted to grab the perfect video or photo. Pashkov was doing his best to get the babies to sync up as well, it seems, and the caption added to the video read, “This was epic.”

The other video shared on Reddit showed the results of Rome and Nikita’s big moment together. “I can’t handle them,” read the caption, and the song “Moments We Live For” by In Paradise played over the video footage. Pashkov shared the clip on his Instagram Stories too, and teased, “The Boss Baby is rumored to be on the next season of DWTS Kids.” It seems Pashkov was joking that Rome is “The Boss Baby,” who is also a character from a series of children’s movies.

DWTS Fans Adored Seeing the Babies Together

The Redditor who originally shared the videos joked that Rome and Nikita were “The cutest future dance partners!” and the post received some positive emoji responses. One poster also noticed both babies have been wearing “matching ankle bracelets.” It appears both babies are wearing red-thread bracelets on their ankles that have ties to several religious faiths and cultures, and suggest good fortune for the wearer.

“I’d be so terrified of dropping that giant camera on a baby,” admitted one “Dancing with the Stars” fan who worried about Johnson leaning over the babies with her large camera.

Another fan cooed, “This lead me on the sweetest rabbit hole of all of their babies!” In addition to Rome, Rio, June, and Nikita joining the “Dancing with the Stars” family in 2023, pro Witney Carson also had her second son, Jet, in May. Former pro Ashly Costa added a baby girl to her family in early July, and former contestants such as Sadie Robertson, Rumer Willis, Rashad Jennings, and Ryan Lochte have welcomed babies over the past few months as well.