Getty Dancers Emma Slater and Sasha Farber are divorcing after five years of marriage
On February 22, “Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Emma Slater filed for divorce from husband Sasha Farber after nearly five years of marriage, according to People. The reason given in the divorce petition is irreconcilable differences.
Farber has now posted a brief response to the filing on his Instagram stories.
Sasha Farber Said of His Divorce From Emma Slater That He’s ‘Thankful For the Good Times’
In an Instagram story on the day that news of the divorce broke, Farber wrote a message about being thankful for the good times and moving on.
Farber wrote, “Things in life don’t always work out, but it’s important to be thankful for the good times and great memories, be strong and keep moving.”
Farber and Slater got engaged during a live “Dancing With the Stars” show in October 2016 and were married on March 25, 2018. Their date of separation on the divorce filing is April 1, 2022, according to People.
A source told the magazine, “Emma and Sasha still remain close. There’s no bad blood between them.”
When the two got engaged, Slater told People at the time, “We’ve been together five-and-a-half years. We bought a house recently and it feels like the natural progression. My mother said once that marriage should feel natural and not like a surprise. It should be expected because that’s when it’s right and it’s already felt like I’ve been his fiancé and wife for years now. It feels really natural.”
When the two got married, five of the bridesmaids were Slater and Farber’s fellow “Dancing With the Stars” pros Witney Carson, Lindsay Arnold, Hayley Erbert, Britt Cherry and Jenna Johnson. Pro-turned-judge Derek Hough was one of Farber’s groomsmen.
Sasha Farber & Emma Slater Have Not Been Very Outspoken About Their Divorce
Despite separating in April 2022, the two have kept working together on “Dancing With the Stars” and on the show’s 2023 tour that is currently on-going (it runs through the end of March).
They haven’t really spoken publicly about the divorce or confirmed the separation before the filing. The closest came when Extra TV asked Slater about how she’s doing amid the split after some anonymous sources confirmed to Us Weekly and E! News that the pair were no longer together.
When Extra asked Slater how she was doing, she said, “I think it’s been a challenging year for a lot of people… For me, I just kind of surround myself with a lot of friends and just try to uplift and do the best I can, and I really do think that that’s the same for almost everybody.”
That echoed some comments Farber made on the season 31 episode when he and partner Selma Blair were forced to withdraw due to her health issues.
“It’s been a hard year, losing a very close family member, it’s been hard and getting to dance with [Blair], she just turned everything the way that it needs to be, she’s inspired me again, she’s inspired so many people out there. She is a wonderful mother and an iconic actress and a beautiful dancer now. I owe her everything,” said Farber at the time.
At the time the source confirmed their split to Us Weekly, the source told the outlet, “They’ve been apart for many months now. They both have not been wearing their wedding rings and are each leading a single life … It’s been a difficult time since they really care about each other and have been together for so long.”
“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 32nd season in the fall of 2023 on Disney Plus.