Jenna Dewan’s Fiancé Backs Her as She Prepares to Dance During Val Chmerkovskiy’s Suspension on Dancing with the Stars
· Thought Catalog
Updated 4 hours ago, October 18, 2026
Steve Kazee told Jenna Dewan, “You got this baby! We got you,” as she prepares for a Dancing with the Stars tribute to her mom with a replacement partner.
The actor, 50, shared his support on Instagram Stories after Dewan’s pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, received a 1-week suspension. Alongside a photo of his fiancée, Kazee wrote, “Everytime I think I can’t love you more, your grace, your class, and your heart prove me wrong.”
Dewan, 45, is expected to dance with Alan Bersten on the Oct. 20 Dedication Night episode. Her planned routine is a Viennese waltz to The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” honoring her mom, Nancy. Bersten, 32, was eliminated earlier in season 35 with his partner, Giada de Laurentiis.
Chmerkovskiy’s suspension is the first for a pro in the show’s history. It followed a since-deleted Instagram post criticizing judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s comments about his wife, fellow pro Jenna Johnson, after her performance with Harry Shum Jr. Referencing Will Smith’s Oscars slap, Chmerkovskiy wrote, “You almost saw the Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
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In an Oct. 17 post confirming he’d sit out Dedication Night, Chmerkovskiy wrote, “In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention.” He also said he’d contacted Inaba, 58, to “apologize directly” and praised the work Dewan was putting into their routine.
Kazee, who’s been engaged to Dewan since 2020, also defended her earlier this month when viewers criticized her chemistry with Chmerkovskiy. “They don’t have chemistry. They have too much chemistry. They have chemistry in the wrong places. Make up your minds. Y’all really got too much time on your hands,” he wrote. He added, “The spouses are unbothered.”
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