“Dancing With the Stars” pros Emma Slater and Alan Bersten have enjoyed a public relationship for the past year. Months before their big reveal, the dancers kept their love a secret.
Now, the couple is speaking up about the challenges they faced while hiding their love.
Emma Slater & Alan Bersten Confirmed Their Romance With a Kiss On Stage
While appearing on the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, Emma Slater and Alan Bersten reflected on the choice to publicly confirm their relationship.
After much fan speculation, the dancers shared a smooch onstage during the 2025 DWTS tour. The crowd roared with applause. From then on, Alan and Emma have happily discussed their relationship online and shared fun glimpses of their lives together.
“At what point was it like, ‘You know what? We’re hard launching this,'” one of the podcast hosts asked the couple.
“That was him,” Emma clarified, gesturing at Alan.
“That was me,” the season 28 champion confirmed, noting that he did ask for Emma’s permission before kissing her on stage. “You know it’s hard when you are in this limelight, people, they know your life. And it was like, we just want to enjoy life together. Like it’s hard going on a vacation and we can’t really post together, so I was like, ‘We need to do it.’ And it was the best thing ever.”
The Dancers Didn’t Want to Hide Their Love Any Longer
Although “Dancing With the Stars” fans overwhelmingly adore Emma Slater, she admitted she felt afraid of their opinions. She was already under heavy scrutiny after her divorce from fellow DWTS pro Sasha Farber.
“I feel like I was living in fear for quite a bit, and I just hated feeling like people were just judging me all the time,” she confessed on the podcast. “And I didn’t realize what an unbearable weight that was.”
The British dancer went on to reveal that someone gave her advice that she took to heart.
“Somebody actually said to me, they were like, ‘Emma, you gotta own your life. If this is what you stand for, this is a relationship you’re in, you’ve got to own it. Whatever aspect of your life, you gotta not be swayed and live in fear of what other people are gonna think of you,'” she added. “And it was a really big lesson for me to go through. So after that, the next day, [I] didn’t look at my phone all day.”
“It was right after the tour and we’re like, ‘Let’s not be on our phone. Let’s just enjoy this.’ I think we went axe throwing. She was shockingly good,” Alan remembered about the day. “We realize we get one life. Why are we like, caring so much about what everyone else thinks?”
“Life’s too short to hide something that you love so much,” one of the podcast hosts agreed.
“Dancing With the Stars” fans can expect to see Alan Bersten and Emma Slater in the ballroom this fall.
“The Next Pro” premieres on ABC on Monday, July 13, with season 35 to follow in September.
