Val Chmerkovskiy Officially Returns to DWTS After Suspension

Chmerkovskiy—who shares 3-year-old son Rome with Johnson—said he apologized privately to Inaba and shared a social media statement to explain his intentions.

“As you may have seen in the news, I won’t be in the ballroom this week,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories Oct. 17. “In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention.”

“Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was,” he continued. “The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in.”

During Dedication Night, cohost Alfonso Ribeiro addressed Chmerkovskiy’s absence by merely stating during the cast introductions, “As you can see, Alan Bersten is with Jenna Dewan because Val is not with us this week.”

For a look at everyone hoping to quickstep their way to the Mirrorball trophy on season 35 of DWTS, read on.