“Dancing with the Stars” pro Val Chmerkovskiy spoke to In Touch about his hopes for his future on the ABC dance competition show.
He is currently partnered with “Rookie” actress and former dancer Jenna Dewan as he hopes to take home his fourth mirrorball.
But, he’s looking in the upcoming seasons to challenge himself and try something new after
Val Chmerkovskiy Opens Up About His Hopes For A Same Sex ‘DWTS’ Partnership
Disney/Eric McCandlessVal Chmerkovskiy has appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” since season 2 and has been partnering celebs since 2011.
Partnering with the likes of Zendaya, Tamar Braxton and Alix Earle, Chmerkovskiy knows what he wants from his time in the ballroom.
“I want to challenge myself creatively and also recreate and reinvent what I’ve done in that ballroom for the last 22 seasons. I’ve been around the block a couple of times,” Chmerkovskiy explained.
Speaking exclusively to In Touch, he told the outlet that he hopes he’ll be involved in the fourth same sex partnership on the show.
“I would love to be paired up with a male contestant,” he added.
The Ukrainian-American dancer praised the reality show for how it “kind of started to break that mold with the female contestants,” referring to how his wife Jenna Johnson paired with Jojo Siwa in season 30 and Hailey Bills with Sarah Jane Nader in season 35.
While the series has had a same sex male partnership, it was with Gleb Savchenko and drag queen Shangela, who performed in female drag.
“I know that that’s on the horizon,” Chmerkovskiy added about him pairing up with a male to compete for the mirrorball.
The 40-year-old continued: “I would love for it to not be exclusive to, you know, [be] based on anything outside of just creating art that looks slightly different from what we’re used to seeing, and I’d love the opportunity to do that.”
Val Chmerkovskiy Opens Up ‘High Expectations’ With His Current ‘DWTS’ Partner
But before the show can cast his next partner, Val Chmerkovskiy is currently coupled up with Jenna Dewan. This season 35 casting sparked some controversy as Dewan has extensive dance experience, previously performing alongside Janet Jackson and appearing in the “Step Up” films.
When the pairing was announced, Chmerkovskiy admitted he wasn’t “naive to the expectations” but revealed there were no guarantees about her performance on the show.
“The world is going to have an opinion, and that’s fine and [that’s] their right, but we can also just enjoy each other and do our best and live in that gratitude,” the dancer told People after the season 35 cast was revealed on “Good Morning America”.
He then asked fans to “forget the dancing part,” explaining, “My advantage is that I’m partnered with an incredible human being that I’m excited to showcase and tell stories with.” He added that he was looking forward to celebrating Dewan as a “woman” and a “mother.”
On her opening dance, coming second on the leaderboard behind Maura Higgins with 19 out of 30.
