Rumors broke that Val Chmerkovskiy would leave Dancing with the Stars before Season 31.
However, in a recent interview, Val’s wife Jenna Johnson said that he was planning to return, and fans shouldn’t worry.
This should make Val’s fans happy since he had hinted at the end of Season 30 that he was likely coming to an end with his time on the show.
Jenna Johnson says Val is returning to DWTS
Jenna Johnson spoke to Us Weekly and said that Val wanted to come back to Dancing with the Stars. It seemed he just might have needed some space to make his decision.
However, it turns out that it isn’t up to them.
“So, the funny thing is we actually don’t know if we’re coming back until right before the season [starts],” Jenna said.
“But yes, I know that Val is definitely excited to come back for another season and I think that he’s in the best shape of his life right now. I’m not sure what happened to him [this year], but he is snatched.”
She also said he is “chiseled” and looks ready to go.
“I’m like a little like, ‘Oh wow, OK. Watch out,’” Jenna said. “I think he’s really excited for this next season.”
Val hinted he was leaving Dancing with the Stars
Val had a tough job on Season 30 of Dancing with the Stars. He partnered with Olivia Jade, a young woman labeled an influencer but who was more known for the College Admissions Scandal.
However, Val worked wonders on Olivia and she ended up gaining some new fans by the time the season ended and left the show in better shape than she came into it with.
With that said, Val seemed tired and he was discouraged when Olivia ended up eliminated.
Olivia asked Val on her podcast after the elimination if this was it for him on DWTS.
“What’s after this for you?” Olivia Jade asked. “Is this your final season or do we have more in that little dancing body?”
Val said that his Dancing with the Stars future is “TBD.”
“I just want to continue to grow creatively, I want to produce shows, I want to star on Broadway, I want to star in movies, I want to move on from [the show],” Val said.
His former partner Monica Aldama said she felt that Val would still be in demand if he left DWTS.
“He could really honestly do so many different things. I don’t have a clue what his plan is, but he does own a lot of dance schools around the country,” she said.
At the time, Jenna Johnson said that there was a chance he could leave DWTS, although she wasn’t going anywhere.
“I think it will be fun to see him try out new things that he wants to do. He’s the most artistic person,” Jenna said. “I’d love to see him act, direct, pursue music, but yeah, we’ll see. I really hope it’s not because he’s so good at dancing.”
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The dancing reality competition series will return in late 2022 to its new home on Disney+ streaming.