Getty Images Val Chmerkovskiy opens up about "tough" times on DWTS.
Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson have been doing “Dancing With the Stars” together for several years. The two met on the show back in 2014 and ended up dating. After a few years, they got engaged.
“My life has changed because of [her],” Chmerkovskiy told People magazine in 2018. “And I find myself to be the best version of myself that I’ve ever been. She’s awesome,” he added.
Over the years, Chmerkovskiy and Johnson have been dancing together and competing against each other on DWTS, which hasn’t always been easy.
“It’s tough. I mean, I did the show for a long time, so all those seasons I was single, it wasn’t a problem at all,” he said on the November 18, 2022, episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast.
“My wife now is pregnant. We’re about to have a child in January. I mean, it’s been an incredible time for me in my life. It’s been a few tough years,” he continued.
Here’s what you need to know:
Chmerkovskiy Shared How He & Johnson Handle the Pressures of Both of Them Working on DWTS
Chmerkovskiy and Johnson know what it’s like to compete on the television show and have sort of figured out a way to make things work when they are both super busy with their respective partners season over season.
“It’s a conversation. I’m also married to another pro that’s on the show. So, I think it’s weird because…it isn’t one person missing someone else. It’s both people really busy with the same pressure bringing it home and not really having each other to even, like, you know, unpack to, right? But we do because we only have each other, right? So we unpack each other’s stuff to each other,” Chmerkovskiy said on “Chicks in the Office.”
“So she comes in talking about her partner, I come in talking about my pressure, my stress. And we’re there for each other but it took some years to also figure out,” he added.
Overall, however, things work between them.
“I have a lot of confidence and joys because I have a great partner,” Chmerkovskiy said.
Johnson Took Season 31 Off Because of Her Pregnancy
After Johnson found out that she was pregnant with her first child, she decided not to compete on season 31 of “Dancing With the Stars.”
“We got home and about two weeks later I was like, ‘Wait a minute, my boobs are feeling very big and very sore. I haven’t started my period yet.’ So I peed on a stick and immediately it just turned positive. The shock and just disbelief was insane. I couldn’t believe it because it it wasn’t an easy journey for us to get pregnant,” Johnson told People magazine when announcing her pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Chmerkovskiy did compete on season 31 alongside Gabby Windey — and the two made it to the finals. Johnson was often in the ballroom cheering on her husband — and the rest of her friends. At times, she even stopped by rehearsal, offering Windey some tips from a different perspective.
No word on whether or not Johnson will compete on season 32.
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