DWTS Suspends Val, Bersten Set to Replace Him

Jenna Dewan will dance with Alan Bersten on Dancing With the Stars’ Dedication Night while her regular partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, serves a one-week suspension. Dewan and Bersten are set to perform a Viennese waltz to “Unchained Melody” in honor of Dewan’s mother. The show’s production company said Chmerkovskiy’s now-deleted social media post was inappropriate and did not meet the show’s standards; the post referenced Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap after judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized Chmerkovskiy’s wife, Jenna Johnson. Chmerkovskiy apologized to Inaba and said he had made a poor decision while trying to defend his wife, adding that he did not intend to imply harm.