Val Chmerkovskiy is shutting down the rumors of his potential retirement from Dancing With the Stars.
Chmerkovskiy, 37, and wife Jenna Johnson fielded questions from social media users on Saturday, December 9. One fan even asked if the reigning mirrorball champ would return for DWTS season 33.
“This is so funny. We have had so many people ask us, well ask Val, if he’s retiring this season,” Johnson, 29, said in the Instagram Story clip, sitting next to her husband. “Do people know something that we don’t know? Val?”
Chmerkovskiy succinctly replied, “I don’t know, [but] no, I’m not retiring. What is that? I would love to be back if the show brings me back. I’ll be there.”
Johnson speculated that the retirement rumors were likely fueled by her reaction to his final dances with partner Xochitl Gomez.
“I think there was a video that people maybe thought meant something. There’s a video of me sobbing like a baby after Val and Xochitl’s foxtrot from the finale,” Johnson added. “I think maybe people were like, ‘Oh, she’s so sad. It’s his last time dancing,’ but I think we’d both love to be back if Dancing With the Stars had us next season.”
Val Chmerkovskiy Courtesy of Jenna Johnson/Instagram
Chmerkovskiy and Johnson were both part of the season 32 pro lineup on DWTS. While the Ukraine native was partnered with 17-year-old Marvel star Gomez, Johnson danced with model Tyson Beckford. Johnson and Beckford, 52, were eliminated during Motown Night in week 3. Chmerkovskiy and Gomez, meanwhile, made it to the Tuesday, December 6, finale, which they won.
Tuesday’s victory marked Chmerkovskiy’s third mirrorball win after he previously took home the trophy with Rumer Willis and Laurie Hernandez, respectively.
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“It feels great. This one feels a little different. It’s been seven years since I was able to be lucky enough to win and to win it with this young lady,” Chmerkovskiy exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday of his victory. “Man, she carried us all season. She made me look great as a teacher [and] as a partner.”
Val Chmerkovskiy, Xochitl Gomez and Jenna Johnson. Disney/Eric McCandless
Gomez reciprocated the choreographer’s praise in her own interview with Us. “That goes both ways,” she gushed. “You can’t really know how to really do any of this unless you have someone who really understands you. So you really understood me and you did all the dances that had my personality in it. And I think that’s what’s important.”
Chmerkovskiy and Gomez were the first recipients of the newly renamed Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy to pay tribute to the late DWTS head judge. Goodman died in April at the age of 78, less than one year after his retirement.
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