EXCLUSIVE: Val Chmerkovskiy Wants Male Partner for 'Dancing With the Stars'
Val Chmerkovskiy wants a male partner for 'Dancing With the Stars' and says he is ready for pairing.
Oct. 12 2026, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Val Chmerkovskiy hopes to give Dancing With the Stars a new twist – by teaming up with a dude, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"I would love to be paired up with a male contestant," said Chmerkovskiy, 40.
Chmerkovskiy Wants Male ‘DWTS’ Partner
Jenna Johnson partnered with JoJo Siwa on season 30 of 'Dancing With the Stars.'
The popular ABC dance show has "kind of started to break that mold with the female contestants," he pointed out.
His wife, Jenna Johnson, 32, was paired with JoJo Siwa of Dance Moms fame in season 30 and the couple's niece Hailey Bills partnered with Sarah Jane Nader before she was eliminated in the current season 35.
As for foxtrotting with a fella, Chmerkovskiy added: "I know that's on the horizon."
Adding he'd "love the opportunity" to mambo with a man, he said: "I want to challenge myself creatively and also reinvent what I've done in that ballroom for the last 22 seasons. I've been around the block a couple of times."
Chmerkovskiy is a two-time winner of the show's coveted Mirrorball Trophy, now named after the late judge Len Goodman. The Ukrainian-born dancer won season 20 with partner Rumer Willis and season 23 with Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez.
Couple Living ‘Dream’ DWTS Season
Rumer Willis and Laurie Hernandez each won 'Dancing With the Stars' with Val Chmerkovskiy.
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He and his wife – who wed in 2019 and share 3-year-old son Rome – are in the swing of season 35 with partners Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr.
Johnson said she hopes to hit the ballroom with an NFL player one day.
As for this season, she added: "I feel like both of us are living our dream partners right now."
