Real talk. Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy got candid about his most awkward moment with a dance partner — and it’s kind of gross!
“Any time one of us passes gas at rehearsal, [it] is just awkward,” Chmerkovskiy, 33, told Us Weekly exclusively.
The Ukrainian-American dancer noted to Us that he has experienced flatulence with a partner “on my end, for sure.” “I just have to [be] like, ‘Oh, let’s just walk over here now because it’s part of the dance routine,’” he explained. “No, that’s a silly one. But that’s pretty awkward.”
Despite the awkwardness of passing gas, Chmerkovskiy said that it “breaks the ice, unfortunately.”
“I would say that’s the only awkward thing,” he concluded. “I make it so natural that’s it.”
Chmerkovskiy never specified whom he’s experienced flatulence in front of.
The DWTS veteran has appeared as a pro from season 13 to 25. He did not dance on season 26, but he returned for season 27 and onward. For the show’s current season, he was initially paired with Christie Brinkley, who ultimately stepped out due to an injury sustained during practice.
“I just broke my arm into a 1000 pieces, requiring surgery with a metal plate and screws to hold my arm together,” she wrote via Instagram on September 16. “I’m so sorry if I’ve disappointed anybody! Only something as bad as this could stop me from continuing to dance with my wonderful coach for @dancingabc … I was having a blast!!!!”
Brinkley’s daughter, model Sailor Brinkley-Cook, replaced her. His past celebrity partners have included Zendaya, Rumer Willis, Normani, Tamar Braxton and Laurie Hernandez.
Chmerkovskiy has won DWTS two times. His first victory occurring with Willis, 31, in season 20 and the second win came three seasons later when he partnered with Hernandez, 19.
When asked about which partner he’d like to have a do-over with, he surprisingly revealed Zendaya. He admitted that he felt as if he “dropped the ball on a few things” when he teamed up with the Euphoria star.
“I am just so much better now than I was when we were partnered that I wish I got a chance to now do that process again with her knowing everything that I do,” he explained. “She was my third partner on the show and so I was just a rook still trying to figure it out. So I wish I had that do over.”
Chmerkovskiy noted that they are “still friends” despite coming in second place, but he regarded their pairing as “a teaching experience for both of us.”
Dancing With the Star airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
