Heavy/ABC "Dancing With the Stars" news update.
A longtime “Dancing With the Stars” hopeful thinks pro dancer Gleb Savchenko is “rude.”
During an April 9, 2024 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live,” “Vanderpump Rules” star Scheana Shay responded to Savchenko’s recent comments about her possibly joining the ABC celebrity ballroom competition. In an interview, Savchenko insinuated Shay doesn’t have the danceability needed for the ballroom.
“I thought that was very rude and uncalled for of him,” Shay told Bravo host Andy Cohen. “But it is what it is. “
Shay’s husband Brock Davies chimed in to ask, ‘Isn’t ‘Dancing With the Stars’ where you take someone from an area and teach them how to dance?” He then suggested, “Maybe Gleb could teach her how to dance and be a better coach?”
“It is OK, I wouldn’t want him as my partner anyway!” Shay responded. She also shared that if she were to join DWTS she would want Alan Bersten as her partner.
Scheana Shay Did Dance With Gleb Savchenko Once Before
PeacockScheana Shay dances with Gleb Savchenko.
Shay actually did dance with Savchenko once, ahead of her wedding to her first husband Mike Shay a decade ago. But her story of how it went doesn’t line up with Savchenko’s.
“We filmed a scene for ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ which is also the first time I have ever danced in my life,” Shay said on WWHL. “I have never claimed to be a dancer. For the first partner dance I’m doing, he was whipping me around. I even found that video recently and I’m like, ‘I thought I did pretty good.’”
The dance lesson can be seen on the “Vanderpump Rules Secrets Revealed” episode from season 3. Lisa Vanderpump, who was partnered with Savchenko on DWTS season 16, jokingly told Shay, “You might not get married after you dance with Gleb!”
Shay’s then-fiancée, her dad Ron van Olphen, and pal Ariana Madix all joined her for the dance class with the DWTS pro. At one point, Shay incorporated twerking into her wedding day dance moves.
Gleb Savchenko Said He Was ‘Glad’ Ariana Madix Was Picked to Compete on DWTS Instead of Scheana Shay
ABCAriana Madix and Pasha Pashkov on ‘Dancing With the Stars.”
The drama between Shay and Savchenko stems from an April 2024 interview with The U.S. Sun, during which the pro dancer reacted to Shay’s comments about hoping to join DWTS for season 32. Shay’s co-star Ariana Madix, who was cast on the show instead, finished in third place with pro dancer Pasha Pashkov.
“I’m glad Scheana didn’t go [on the show],” Savchenko commented to The Sun. “I don’t think she would’ve had the same chance as Ariana.”
Savchenko also addressed how he helped choreograph Shay’s first dance for her wedding in 2014. “It wasn’t easy,” he alleged of his difficulties with the “Good as Gold” singer.
“She’s an awesome girl and everything,” he said of Shay. “But as my memory calls, I didn’t think she had a lot of dance experience. If you ever want to be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and you feel like you have enough celebrity power to be on a show, whoever that is – it’s not just Scheana or anybody else – you should start taking classes.”
Scheana Shay Admitted Her Dream Was to Be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Shay claimed she was nearly cast for DWTS season 32 until her co-stars’ Scandoval cheating scandal garnered public sympathy for Madix—and tons of job offers.
In a March 2024 interview on Heather McDonald’s “Juicy Scoop” podcast, Shay said she had been in contact with DWTS producers well before Madix was cast for the show at the last minute. She also claimed she was told she was “right up there” on the list of potential contestants for season 32 and started taking dance classes “just in case.”
“I had two producers and a costume designer come up to me [at the DWTS season 31 finale] and they’re like, ‘Oh my God how have you not been on this show yet?” Shay claimed. “They’re like where’s [casting director and producer] Deena Katz? We need to find Deena, we’ve got to introduce you, like you need to do next season!’”
“They were just like, ‘OK, we’re putting your name in,’” she added. “And for months I kept in touch with these people. …And then I got a call from my producer friend that first week in March [2023]. He was like, ‘I just wanna say, like you know, we’re starting to put names out there. And yours was the first one that I was going to recommend. But after everything that happened [with Scandoval] I’m pretty sure they’re gonna reach out to Ariana,’” Shay recalled. “But if it wasn’t because of the scandal I was gonna be on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”
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