Alan Bersten replaces Val as Jenna Dewan’s DWTS partner, following week-long suspension
She's 'so excited'
Alan Bersten is replacing Val Chmerkovskiy as Jenna Dewan’s Dancing With the Stars partner for this week, following Val’s week-long suspension from the show. In a now-deleted TikTok story, Val made a comment about judge Carrie Ann Inaba, possibly insinuating that he was close to slapping her after her judging of his fiancé, Jenna Johnson. He was then suspended over his comment for a week, leaving Jenna Dewan to dance with Alan instead for week six.
Alan was previously on this season of DWTS and was paired up with Giada De Laurentiis, before being eliminated on the Viral Hits Night in week two.
Alan is a 32 year old pro-dancer on DWTS, originally from Minnesota. He’s been on 10 seasons of DWTS and has won it once, back in season 28 with his celeb partner Hannah Brown.
He’s been part of the franchise since 2015, when he was part of the DWTS troupe in season 20, but his first season as a pro was then in 2017.
Alan is dating fellow DWTS dancer Emma Slater, and they might be the show’s cutest couple. Rumours of their connection first started back in October 2024, and the pair officially confirmed it with a kiss on the DWTS tour in April 2025. They’ve been going strong since!
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Jenna provided viewers with a glimpse behind the scenes of her routine with Alan, as he’s stepped up in place of Val.
Despite there being tons of backlash against her pro partner Val, Jenna isn’t letting this scandal stop her from her chances of winning the Mirrorball trophy. She shared an Instagram Story on Dancing With the Stars’ account yesterday, October 18.
“Hi everybody,” she started off. “It’s Dedication Night, and we are dancing a Viennese waltz to Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers, the greatest, most romantic song ever.”
With Alan standing next to her, she continued and said that she was “so excited” for the performance. She kept the announcement short and sweet, with Alan just smiling along while she spoke.
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Alan has replaced Val after his unsettling comment towards Carrie Ann.
He commented: “Put some respect on her name. She’s trippin talking to her like that.” In a now-deleted TikTok story, he also wrote: “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” This has led some to believe he’s referencing the Will Smith slap, and are concerned that Val was trying to insinuate that he was close to slapping Carrie Ann Inaba during DWTS. The TikTok Story has since been deleted, and Val released an apology statement shortly afterwards.
BBC Studios said in a statement: “The well-being of everyone who works on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is non-negotiable. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
val out this week so we might be getting brandon back for one more night thank god #dwts https://t.co/Cm8QOh2m5f
— wes (@wesisloading) October 17, 2026
Val Chmerkovskiy also released his own statement following the news of his Dancing With The Stars suspension, saying: “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,” he said. “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. Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”