Former Dancing with the Stars professional Maks Chmerkovskiy is taking issue with the casting of Taylor Swift’s dancer Jan Ravnik on the show. During a recent appearance on the podcast “The Penthouse with Peta,” Ravnik said there was “no need to go pro” in the long-running competition series.
“There’s zero fundamentals, zero technology, zero quality, zero understanding of partnerships,” Chmerkovskiy said. “Brother, I’m getting emotional. It’s ridiculous, and this is unrealistic how blind we must be, and God forbid we say what’s obviously there.”
Chmerkovskiy first joined “Dancing with the Stars” in Season 2 and continued to compete professionally for a total of 17 non-consecutive seasons. Ravnik joined the show in season 34 and is paired with Jen Affleck.
Later in the discussion, Mr. Chmerkovskiy explained that he was particularly offended by Mr. Ravnik’s performance on “Wicked” on the night of Oct. 21.
“He had no idea what a foxtrot was,” he claimed. “How do you expect him to teach that and convey that message in a format that’s completely different than ballroom dancing? We got this criticism a few weeks ago, and I thought, ‘Brother, is someone going to explain that to him?'”
Chmerkovskiy added that he had “nothing against” Ravnik as a human being, but said his appointment was a “missed opportunity”. Peta Murgatroyd, a podcast host and fellow former Dancing with the Stars pro, agreed, adding that it was “outrageous” that Ravnik was hired because she doesn’t appear to have any experience in ballroom dancing.
“They hired him. He’s a Taylor Swift dancer. That’s the obvious reason he was hired,” she added. “Other than that, he’s a nice guy, he looks great, and he’s clearly a great dancer. Hiring someone who’s not a ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to celebrities is outrageous.”
