Val Chmerkovskiy: Let Them Dance

Summary

Episode Summary: The Squeeze - Val Chmerkovskiy: Let Them Dance

Release Date: May 14, 2025

Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Squeeze, host Taylor Lautner and co-host Taylor Lautner delve deep into the life and career of celebrated ballroom dancer Val Chmerkovskiy. Val, known for his impressive performances on Dancing with the Stars, shares his journey from Ukraine to the bustling streets of Brooklyn, his passion for dance, the challenges he's faced, and how dance serves as a cornerstone for his mental well-being.

Early Life and Immigration

Val begins by recounting his childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, a vibrant city often referred to as the "New Orleans of the Soviet Union" due to its rich cultural tapestry encompassing jazz, soul, and a significant Eastern European Jewish community.

Val [07:10]: "Odessa is like a little city on the Black Sea, known for its jazz, a lot of soul. It's a melting pot with a big Jewish and Slavic community."

Val discusses the socio-political upheaval following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1994, which prompted his family to seek stability in Brooklyn, New York. He reflects on the cultural and emotional challenges of immigrating at a young age.

Val [09:23]: "My parents didn't want me to be around the emerging Russian oligarchy post-Soviet Union, so moving to America was a way to protect our family from that instability."

Dance as a Lifeline

From an early age, Val was immersed in the world of dance. Initially enrolled in a ballroom dance program in Ukraine, Val's talent was evident, leading his teachers to encourage him to pursue dance more seriously. Despite the cultural stigma and occasional bullying associated with being a male ballroom dancer, Val remained steadfast in his passion.

Val [19:41]: "Ballroom dance became my athletic pursuit. I was competing, striving to win, much like in any sport. It was about the three seconds on the clock, the victory."

Val highlights the transition from dance being a mere hobby to a competitive sport, emphasizing the discipline and resilience it instilled in him. This background laid the foundation for his later success on Dancing with the Stars.

Balancing Dance and Personal Life

As Val's dance career flourished, so did his personal life. He shares insights into his marriage with Taylor Lautner and how they navigate the challenges of balancing a high-profile career with family responsibilities. The couple discusses the influence of dance on their relationship, recognizing it as a shared passion that strengthens their bond.

Val [25:23]: "Dance has always been a part of my life, even before I met Taylor. It's a safe haven, a place where I find peace and self-esteem."

Val also touches upon the complexities of parenting, reflecting on how becoming a father has shifted his perspective on sacrifices and the legacy he wishes to leave for his son, Rome.

Val [41:38]: "Becoming a father has made me even more appreciative of my parents' sacrifices. It's a privilege to spend quality time with Rome, something I aspire to provide more of than my own father did for me."

Dancing with the Stars and Beyond

Val provides an insider's view of his experience on Dancing with the Stars and his involvement in the Hulu project Let Them Dance. He differentiates his approach to reality TV, emphasizing authenticity and staying true to his craft rather than conforming to typical reality TV tropes.

Val [53:19]: "Dancing with the Stars is not reality TV to me. I'm just doing what I'm excellent at, and they figured out a format to showcase that."

He recounts memorable moments from the show, including forming genuine friendships with fellow contestants despite the competitive environment. Val discusses the intense scrutiny and the emotional investment required to perform under constant observation.

Val [57:00]: "We still have a group chat since the show. Despite the cameras and competition, genuine friendships were formed, which is something I treasure."

Mental Health and Coping Mechanisms

Throughout the episode, Val emphasizes the importance of mental health and how dance serves as a therapeutic outlet for him. He reflects on the pressures of maintaining a public persona and the need to find balance amidst professional demands.

Val [25:08]: "Experiencing a lot of unnatural ego and then being humbled by society taught me to not take things too seriously. Dance remains my sanctuary."

Val acknowledges the inevitable challenges of bullying and societal pressures but underscores the significance of resilience and self-worth derived from his dance journey.

Community and Legacy

Val concludes by highlighting the role of community in his life, particularly in fostering a thriving ballroom dance culture in Eastern European immigrant neighborhoods like Brighton Beach. He praises influential figures such as Kim Del Grosso, who has dedicated her life to nurturing young dancers, ensuring that the legacy of ballroom dance continues to inspire future generations.

Val [48:08]: "Kim Del Grosso is the heart and soul of our community. She has dedicated her life to raising humans through the vehicle of dance, and her impact is immeasurable."

Conclusion

Val Chmerkovskiy's episode on The Squeeze offers a heartfelt exploration of his journey from a young immigrant to a celebrated dancer and father. Through candid conversations, Val shares how dance has been both a competitive pursuit and a source of emotional solace, shaping his identity and relationships. The episode underscores the universal struggle with mental health, the pursuit of passion, and the enduring strength found in community and family.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Val [07:10]: "Odessa is like a little city on the Black Sea, known for its jazz, a lot of soul. It's a melting pot with a big Jewish and Slavic community."
2. Val [09:23]: "My parents didn't want me to be around the emerging Russian oligarchy post-Soviet Union, so moving to America was a way to protect our family from that instability."
3. Val [19:41]: "Ballroom dance became my athletic pursuit. I was competing, striving to win, much like in any sport. It was about the three seconds on the clock, the victory."
4. Val [41:38]: "Becoming a father has made me even more appreciative of my parents' sacrifices. It's a privilege to spend quality time with Rome, something I aspire to provide more of than my own father did for me."
5. Val [53:19]: "Dancing with the Stars is not reality TV to me. I'm just doing what I'm excellent at, and they figured out a format to showcase that."
6. Val [25:08]: "Experiencing a lot of unnatural ego and then being humbled by society taught me to not take things too seriously. Dance remains my sanctuary."
7. Val [48:08]: "Kim Del Grosso is the heart and soul of our community. She has dedicated her life to raising humans through the vehicle of dance, and her impact is immeasurable."

Key Topics Covered:

• Immigration Journey: Val's move from Odessa, Ukraine, to Brooklyn, New York, amidst post-Soviet instability.
• Dance Career: From early ballroom dance training to competitive success and participation in Dancing with the Stars.
• Mental Health: The role of dance as a coping mechanism and sanctuary for mental well-being.
• Work-Life Balance: Navigating the demands of a high-profile career while maintaining a fulfilling personal life.
• Parenting: Insights into fatherhood and the impact on personal perspectives and priorities.
• Community Influence: The significance of community leaders in fostering a vibrant ballroom dance culture.
• Reality TV Experience: Val's authentic approach to participation in Let Them Dance and maintaining genuine relationships amidst competition.

This episode serves as a comprehensive look into Val Chmerkovskiy's multifaceted life, blending personal anecdotes with professional insights, all underscored by a commitment to mental health and community support.

Transcript

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

The following podcast is a dear media production delusional optimism about the American dream. There's no comparison, you know, I'd rather be here.

[Jenna Johnson]

You and Jenna are here. Really? Our first guest, season one, and your episode is one of our top ten most viewed episodes. So we'll see how this one stands next to it.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Process of elimination. Like, all right, it's Jenna.

[Jenna Johnson]

Just have to have Jenna back solo.

[Taylor]

And then we can compare it.

[Jenna Johnson]

We can really tell.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So when did dance start in our community? Russian. Ukrainian ballroom dance is the thing. You watch Dancing with the Stars. It's a bunch of Chmerkovsky, Vincent Savchenko, and a bunch of girls from Utah.

[Taylor]

So true.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Jenna's winning moment was a winning moment for me. She's incredible choreographer, and I am an amazing bystander to her creativity.

[Taylor]

Can we get to the show?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Like, yo, you're in a house for 10 days. Money's going up. You got to escape. But Dancing with the Stars is not reality tv. Reality TV is. What did you say to me, Taylor? Look at you. You know, it's like, whoa. We were just hanging out your personality.

[Taylor]

With some of those charact.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Honestly, the normal people were the least normal in the house.

[Jenna Johnson]

You.

[Taylor]

You also get.

[Jenna Johnson]

Sprinting was very impressive.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And everybody's like, no, bro, you look like the bad guy from Terminator. You have, like, the best posture running down this.

[Jenna Johnson]

Val, welcome back to the Squeeze.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Thank you.

[Taylor]

We don't have many welcome backs, so it's always. It always feels good when I hear you say that.

[Rob]

I know. I know.

[Jenna Johnson]

It's good. How's it feel?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

It feels like an honorable mention.

[Jenna Johnson]

As it should.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I appreciate it. It's cool. Again, like. Like I said, of the record. Am I allowed to say I'm proud of you? I'm proud of this project. I'm proud of, you know, how far you've come. It's awesome.

[Taylor]

Thank you.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, it's a very competitive space. I mean, like, everybody wants to do it, first of all. Not a lot of people do it and then do it well and do it consistently.

[Jenna Johnson]

That's so sweet.

[Taylor]

Appreciate that.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

It's so fun. Yeah. You guys. You and Jenna are here. You guys are one of our, like, really. Our first guests.

[Taylor]

Really towards the top.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Season one and your episode is one of our top ten most viewed episodes.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

So hopefully we'll see how this one stands next to it right through the process of elimination.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Like, all right, it's Jenna who's the expert.

[Jenna Johnson]

We'll just have to have Jenna back solo, and then we can compare. We can really tell.

[Taylor]

That's funny.

[Jenna Johnson]

Okay, so we start each episode off with this jar. It's a game called Citrus Got Real. If you want to pull a little piece of paper out of there and read it to our lemon drops.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Lemon fortune cookie.

[Taylor]

Okay. Lemon fortune cookie.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

If you could choose your own name, what would it be?

[Taylor]

Oh, my gosh.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Wow.

[Taylor]

This is. Oh, wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

It's a great question. I had a son, and I feel like I named him a name that I would have loved to be named.

[Taylor]

Oh, that's cool.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Rome. Yeah, it's my version of Junior.

[Taylor]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Instead of naming him, literally, Val Valentine, but, yeah, my son's name is Rome, and I love that name.

[Taylor]

Yeah, it is. It's very cool.

[Jenna Johnson]

Do you have one?

[Taylor]

I. Yeah, I do. And this is gonna get a little bit awkward. It's not gonna be awkward. It's just funny and ironic. When I was a kid, I actually asked my mom all the time if she could change my name.

[Jenna Johnson]

Are you serious?

[Taylor]

Yes.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wait, I didn't know that.

[Taylor]

Yeah, all the time I would say, can you? Like, is it too late to change my name? Because I always wanted to be Max.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Wow.

[Taylor]

I was obsessed with the name Max.

[Jenna Johnson]

I can actually see you as a Max.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, me too.

[Jenna Johnson]

As a kid.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Jenna Johnson]

Taylor, I feel like, oh, no, maybe Max.

[Taylor]

Funny. Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Was there, like, a character or, like, a friend at school, or do you just.

[Taylor]

No, I didn't know anybody named Max. I just, like, loved the name as a kid.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I'm sure there was a dog that you met.

[Taylor]

Yeah, probably was. With how much I love dogs. There definitely was a dog involved with that.

[Jenna Johnson]

Definitely was a dog.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

My brother's name is Max. That's.

[Taylor]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Max is a great name. You have big Max energy.

[Taylor]

Big Max energy.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wow, look at that.

[Taylor]

That's the coolest thing anybody's ever said.

[Jenna Johnson]

What a compliment.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

What did your mom say?

[Taylor]

She said no. She. She said I was gonna remain Taylor.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Is it a family name? Did you.

[Taylor]

No. No, I don't.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Do you have any siblings?

[Taylor]

I have one younger sister. I forget. No, they got it from something. I think it was, like, the last name of an actor they liked or something or a character and a. Something.

[Jenna Johnson]

Okay.

[Taylor]

Clearly I care a lot. I just want to be Max.

[Jenna Johnson]

Still, about the origin of your name. I think mine was from a. A little girl that my mom used to babysit, and her name was Taylor. That's where she got Taylor from. Oh, I could be wrong. I used to want it to be my middle name. Which is Renee, because I knew so many Taylors, and I really became a.

[Taylor]

Thing at some point.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

And I wanted to be, like, original.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And you look like a Renee.

[Jenna Johnson]

Thank you.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You do.

[Jenna Johnson]

Thank you.

[Taylor]

Should we just change our names to Max and Renee?

[Jenna Johnson]

Honestly, it would probably make our life a lot easier if we didn't have the same name.

[Taylor]

That's true.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But you got a Renee haircut right now, for sure.

[Taylor]

Definitely.

[Jenna Johnson]

It's after my nana, because her name's Irene. And that's like a. She's Greek. And that's like a Greek spin off of the name.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

All right, great question.

[Taylor]

Boom.

[Jenna Johnson]

You do call me Renee sometimes. And I do enjoy it.

[Taylor]

Yeah. Usually when you're in trouble.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah, definitely when I'm in trouble. Okay. So I'm excited to have you here solo because last time when we had you, it was a lot of, like, marriage and relationship stuff, but. And Dancing with the Stars and Daisy. And the Stars, which, you know, maybe.

[Taylor]

Just coming off a winning season.

[Rob]

Yes.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wait, no, no. It was before.

[Taylor]

It was before.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Oh, Xochi was our first.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah, Xochi was our first last year.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, my gosh.

[Taylor]

That's.

[Jenna Johnson]

We started this trend on our show, which I'm happy to keep up is our first episode of each year has been the winner, the reigning.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

So we had Zochi on for. She was our first guest of season two. And then this year was Joey.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Wow.

[Jenna Johnson]

So that's great. It's just this trend that we randomly have.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's a great trend.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

It's not too shabby.

[Jenna Johnson]

I'm going to keep. I'm going to keep up with. But we didn't really get to dive into, like, your upbringing.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

And stuff. And I would love to kind of just start with that because I'm really interested in hearing about it. But something. Yeah, that's something that we didn't dive into. But you were born in Ukraine. You lived there until you were eight, and then you immigrated over to Brooklyn. Do you remember much of your childhood?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I, like. It's hard for me to put an age to it. I think after five is, like, most of my memories.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But I. Yeah, I do. I remember this. The city, like, the architecture, the energy that I felt.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

The place where I lived, you know the apartment.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

The little apartment.

[Taylor]

Where? In Ukraine.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Odessa. Ukraine. Ukraine. So it's like a little city on the Black Sea, and it's known as the New Orleans of the Soviet Union. It's got a lot of jazz, a Lot of soul. It's a melting pot. A lot of. A big, a big Jewish community, Eastern European Jewish community, Slavic community. I mean, all of it.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

A lot of foreign exchange students and I mean, again, it's just like for an Eastern European country, it felt colorful, you know, with its music and comedy and the arts.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh, that's cool.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

What, what prompted you guys to move?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So my, my brother was 14 and so this is 94. This is post Soviet Union fell apart. This is my like little history lesson. But it's important, Right. Especially now with, with the Russia. Ukrainian thing is that, you know, I'm a Russian speaking Ukrainian. That's. I'm obviously anti war and, and pro Ukraine and independence and the ability to choose what it wants to do. It's a sovereign nation. But for 85 years we've been one union. You know, it was the United Soviet states, you know, 14 republics that are vastly different in culture together speaking one language, which was Russian. And so a lot of the Russian culture and Russian language music, let's say, you know, for the last 80 years, doesn't solely belong to Russia. It belongs to all of those republics because they all contributed, you know, so I, I've never even learned Ukrainian, unfortunately. You know, so I wouldn't be able to show my, let's say Ukrainian pride even at the moment because I'm a Russian speaking Ukrainian.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So anyway, that's the region that I'm from.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And one of the reasons my parents moved is because there was already an unsettling kind of boiling instability about that region. Because in the 90s it was like, imagine God forbid the United States breaks apart.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And a lot of chaos is going to ensue. And this wasn't just a union that fell apart. It was a union that was communist, meaning that there's no free enterprise or free even thought, really. So all of a sudden there's all this freedom that's never been there before.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But a people haven't changed. So, you know, that's where you get the oligarchy. You know, you hear the Russian oligarchs. A lot of that was made in the 90s with ruthlessness. So my parents didn't want me to be around that or, or their son would be around that.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And they got lucky and were able to immigrate to Brooklyn, New York.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Being quite well off. You know, my dad was doing well, but he understood what it would take to continue to do well.

[Taylor]

What did he do?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Like import export. That's a very fancy way of saying what he did, he basically imported, let's say, jeans from Turkey or Europe and sold them in the Ukrainian local Adessa market.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

As one of the products that was not available there, you know, Levi jeans.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Like, things that. In the west, that. That's already part of the capitalistic, democratic kind of society where free trade, people are moving things faster.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so we moved to America in. To a much lower level of living.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And. And social status for my father and. And my mom. You know, as a family, we definitely downgraded.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But we upgraded in spirit.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, and the opportunity. And now you. You're looking at things without this glass ceiling and fear. You kind of just have this delusional optimism about the American dream.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But it. You know, now as an adult, I'm. I grew up in this country. I analyze that delusional optimism and reality.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

In a different way, but I think there's no comparison. You know, I. I'm. I'd rather be here.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Were you happy that you guys are moving or. I mean, like, explain. Like, were you able to, like, kind of grasp the concept of why it was happening? Or were you just like, I'm going to America?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. Yeah. What's crazy is, like, 8 and 14 are quite different. I mean. Yeah. Six years. But it's a really different train of thought.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So my. My brother remembers more of, like, the heartache of.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Separating with your family. I mean, immigration is hard, even from state to state.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Imagine leaving your lineage. I mean, again, I don't want to sound so. Whatever. Poetic, but really like, your roots, your friendships, your.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Your habits, your hobbies.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

All of it.

[Taylor]

Very different.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. You know, so. So you. To. To leave that. We. We had the dinner and relatives came and the whole, you know, it's. It's every cultural movie you've ever seen.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, you saying goodbye and tears. But I'm excited, you know, because we're going on a journey, so I have nothing really to leave behind. I'm eight years old. I'm just starting out.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I was excited. I remember landing at jfk. I remember the smell. It just smelled like a different world. Just. Yeah. I'll never forget that.

[Taylor]

What prompted Brooklyn?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Just the. You know, you gravitate to where your people are. You know, we moved to a very Eastern European immigrant neighborhood around Coney Island. Brighton beach is the name. Honora. Just put that on the map again. You know, it's like that sheep's at bay grave. Zen. You know, it Was for a long time very Italian. It was still very Italian immigrant heavy. But again, there was also, you know, a black community, Hispanic community, this. And, and then slowly, I think late 70s, 80s, 90s, an influx of. Of Russian, Ukrainian Jews immigrated there. And again, you plead refuge. Our connection, our ability to get the chance to immigrate here legally was our Jewish connect. It was, it was like an organization here that makes sure that they help facilitate any sort of immigrant. Jewish immigrants that are pleading refuge from anti Semitism. And there was quite a bit of that in that region still. This is the place, you know. And so they were able to. My grandma's Jewish. Her family was unfortunately killed during the Holocaust and. And they gave her the right to it. So. So it was my grandma who still lives in Brooklyn that is the reason why our family was able to immigrate. And they looked at my father who's 35, my mom who was 35, two young kids, a hard working young family. You know, it's a human resource that this country welcomed.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I'm very lucky and fortunate that that was the case.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Again, even though they welcomed us into projects.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

In, you know, in South Brooklyn.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

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[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Throughout dance. My parents signed my brother up to an after school chivalry program in Ukraine.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh, wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And one of the things was ballroom dance.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And the teacher was like, he should take extra ballroom dance lessons because he's so talented.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh my gosh.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And like, now I, I look back, she was probably just recruiting boys to dance.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But maybe he, he actually had some potential.

[Taylor]

She's like, he's really good. Yeah. Keep it up.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But. Yeah, exactly. But my parents never dance. So they were just these really, you know, idealistic parents that wanted to do the best for their kids. So they're like, dance, of course. Let him dance.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so then they signed me up to dance. And when we moved to America, again, it's like I didn't really speak English, but I knew how to dance.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Which served me no purpose at all. Gave me no social currency in elementary school.

[Rob]

That's funny.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But we kept dancing because again, in our community, in the Eastern European, Russian, Ukrainian culture that was now growing in that area, ballroom dance is the thing, you know, and, and it was thriving. And so I continue to go, wow. And I excelled. And I, you know, that's why again, you watch Dancing with the Stars, it's a bunch of Chmerkovsky, Vincevchenko's and, and a bunch of girls from Utah.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's what it is.

[Taylor]

That's so funny. So true.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Because we embraced our male Ballroom dancers and dancers in general and athletes. That's the thing is, like, I grew up in competitive ballroom dance. I didn't grow up in artistic ballroom dance. Like, yeah, it's dance sport. So I was competing. I was like, to me, I was. I was trying to be a Michael Jordan, not like a Michael Jackson. It wasn't a moonwalk that inspired me. It was like three seconds on the clock.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For the win. To me, the three seconds on the clock was like, and now jive your final dance. You know, and I go off and win that title or make it to the next round. You know, that's the energy that I kind of pursued ballroom dance with. So to me, the bullying didn't make sense because I was an athlete.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, not that you should bully non athletes. I'm just saying, like, I. I'll play ball. I'll play all of it and I. Ballroom dance, yeah.

[Taylor]

You did get bullied as a kid.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I mean, social media, etc, like, it. It's hard, but you're gonna feel it at some point in your life. And we're not ever gonna, as a society, eliminate all of it. We should continue to shed light on how damaging it is. But it's gonna happen. People are broken, so they're gonna try to break you.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So, yeah, there was misunderstanding, bullying, whatever. Never physical. I never felt threatened, for sure. No. But I also didn't walk around being like, I'm a ballroom dancer. You know, it's like something I never really talked about or bragged about, even though on the side I am one of the best ballroom dancers this country has ever seen.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So it's like this incredible pride that I have that I don't carry with me, actually, which I loved. I think that's. That created a really nice balance for me as a little kid.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Experiencing a lot of unnatural, you know, ego and then being really humbled by society. That told me, like, who cares?

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Right.

[Jenna Johnson]

You know, that's so interesting. I love that analogy of like, just like the competition, like you're a competitor and, you know, I grew up dancing. It was more like a. I mean, I competed, but it was very much so, you know, something fun where I got to express my emotions and was very feely. I didn't like, compete much, but it's cool to like, hear that, that take on it and like, just like how serious it.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, yeah. And then it's also a source of lively, like, income. Again, I don't want to, like, livelihood. I'm eight, you know, I'm 1012. But I was making money.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I was able to make it money. So my brother and I, who is now 18 and I'm 12, got a job in a Russian restaurant. Again, shout out an aura with different type of work, but, you know, a lot of the imagery is that. And in actually, Tatiana is the restaurant. That's one of the restaurants that we performed at. And by performing. So Friday, Saturdays, nights, it's, you know, again, back to the culture of the people. You didn't have much, but you. Oh, you know, food and hosting is your wealth.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

People, you know, it's, like, crazy. I get emotional. But, you know, the people that you can bring around you and. And eat, you still dress up. You still. You know, I love that.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so during those festivities, there would be a show.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

A ballroom dance show. And me and my brother would come out and with our partners.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And we would perform.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I would get paid 25 bucks for doing the cha. And. And the same that I'm doing right now.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Just get it paid a little more.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

A few more zeros, but the same intensity, the same purpose, the same responsibility.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, that's why it's hard for me to turn that off.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I'm evolving. Obviously, there are other things now in my life that are impacting how I. The type of relationship I have with dance.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But at times, that intensity is. Is just what it is. It's the only relationship I've ever had with dance.

[Rob]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Do you. Do you feel like, as it's grown or as you've evolved as a dancer, do you feel like there's been. It's become, like, an outlet for you? Like, do you. Do you go. If, let's say, you're, like, having, you know, you're struggling mentally or you're going through a hard time, do you go, like, I need to go, like, dance and, like, have an outlet? Because I feel like that's what a lot of people do. Or is it, like, just a passion, like, you know.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Is it a passion that you have, like, someone with sport? Like, you know, I don't think, like, Luca's, like, being, like, I'm stressed. I need to go, like, shoot threes. Like, I don't.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, it's great that you know about Luca. That's great.

[Jenna Johnson]

Thank you.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Yeah. I can't. Yeah. Lucas is stressed. He's. Well, I. I think that. I think that is. I bet that's true, though. And I bet it's similar for you I bet when you're stressed, Luca's like, yeah, no, I gotta go put my mind into that. And I bet it's similar.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

I bet if you're feeling that way, you're like, I gotta go. Just like, get in the studio and just like, I don't know.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For sure. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's a place that you've invested so much of your life to. And one of the things we discussed, actually, with Jen, when we talked about marriage and things is that. Is that I married you to love you and be your partner in life. And dance is part of our life, so. Sure. But my relationship with dance has been there before anybody.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, and that's a. So back to, you know, that's a place where I draw a lot of. A lot of peace, a lot of self esteem, you know, which is so hard now transitioning in any sport for Luca when he retires.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And he no longer can play on that same level. Same for me. Like, your body retires.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Your mind and spirit never does. So. Yeah, it's definitely a place. It's a safe haven for me and a place to distract. And I've definitely went there and I continue to go there. You know, not everything makes me money that has to do with what I'm doing with dance.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, it's either making me money or it's making me better or it's making me happy. You know, And a lot of times the money is not a part of that equation at all. But it's the opportunity to dance that's the reward.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For me.

[Jenna Johnson]

So special.

[Taylor]

Is it ever. Is it ever challenging to keep that love and passion for dance and it being like your safe space outlet when it bleeds over into your everyday job?

[Jenna Johnson]

He's like, no, not at all.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

No. Yeah. It's just. It's not every day. You know, we just talked about my seasons of dance in general. It's like, it's very action packed.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Around Dancing with the Stars in that regard. Yes. Like, that show has my undivided attention.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Every day. You know, because I also want to be successful.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I'm also responsible for another person's experience on the show, you know, especially now. There are people that would love to do the show.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I am their liaison into this experience. I don't know what Allison, like.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, it's like you got the golden ticket and like, let me show you around. Let me give you every flavor of this Dancing with the Stars factory.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I need to wake up on time. I need to be energized. I need to, you know, I'm responsible for you.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For you to enjoy this. So that for sure, off season again, I'm not always touring. When I'm touring, it's fun. I mean, it's incredible. It's obviously a little bit more challenging now with the child, but that's so fun. Yeah, it's very hard work, but it's a real human exchange, you know, and I love that. Yeah, it's Tatiana on crack. You know, it's, it's Mohegan sun with 10, 000 people, but it's the same exchange and I just love it and treat it the same way, so. No, that would never get old.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And then there again, there's like, moments where I treat myself to, to, you know, because my toolkit is still my body.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so I need to just replenish my body.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

For sure.

[Jenna Johnson]

True. How do you, like, throughout the season? I mean, obviously, like, you guys have downtime, but when the Dancing with the Star season is going, do, is there like, do you and Jenna have an off switch with work while it's going or is it just y' all are just like, locked in? Because, like, we, obviously we work together, but this is, you know, a year round, full time thing. But, you know, it's hard sometimes for us to sit down at the dinner table and, you know, not talk.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Podcasting right now. Are we having a genuine conversation? But again, you are. You don't turn on. Respectfully. I mean, you turn on at work, but you really are having an authentic conversation.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So it does spill over, but not in a toxic way. Like, is the opposite. Life is spilling over into work. And the fact that you get to do that is a huge blessing because you would probably do this exact same thing just outside.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Without this.

[Taylor]

Whatever.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And, and Martha, Martha would have been there though, still. But, yeah, so, but, but I, I, I understand what you're saying. And, and it does get frustrating because not all of it is peaceful.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Work is not always peaceful.

[Taylor]

So.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, when that bleeds over, it's like, okay.

[Taylor]

Especially when. Yeah, like, it's going great for one of you and the other one.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, yeah. That's hard. Yeah, you're right.

[Taylor]

I imagine, like, yeah, one person's, like, wanting to, like, celebrate and feeling on cloud nine, and the other one's just like, down in the dumps. I can't imagine those dinners.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, they are important dinners. You know, they're a growing moment that's why this. This time, this season was so special. Jenna's winning moment was a winning moment for me because I am. I'm gonna experience that dinner.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, because we've already experienced the other dinners.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I was just excited for that.

[Taylor]

Oh, my gosh. I remember that moment. Like, you standing at the side of the stage, just the camera, like, behind you, watching. It was so good.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I keep mentioning Maui's tattoo because I see a lot of Maui now with our kid. So sorry. Moana.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Maui moi. This is little tattoos always, like, running around.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So that shot is like, me here jumping up and down. So you're not even focused on whatever's here, but you can't help it, because he's like, what's happening here? And then my brother was behind me filming. So again, it was just like. It's just. It was just a really special moment. For that reason is that very rarely do you get to, like, align.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Both parties are. We just had, you know, got nominated for an Emmy. Like, it was just. I mean, again, I couldn't thank the Lord, the universe, anything, you, everybody, enough times for that. You know, that's like the Eastern European, Jewish, you know, nerves, you know, it's like, anything good is happening. I'm like, please just. Thank you so much. Please.

[Taylor]

Super thankful for everything.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Thank you.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

How exciting was that, getting nominated for an Emmy? How did you guys find out?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So exciting. So, I mean, you. When we. When the piece happened, it felt really special.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so, like, just the feedback was. Felt, like, different.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And some people dropped the Emmy thing. Oh, this is that, you know, in those. In that feedback. But so, you know, you hear it, so you can't help but, like, have a sliver expectation. But again, you are. I'm an adult.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, like, I'm not 15. That's like, oh, yeah. For all this is mine. You know, I'm like, this is beautiful. Thanks.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But the expectation was very low. And then, you know, you submit, you go through the process, and then I think it's around. We were in Chicago doing the show called Savor Saver after hours. Would again share in space at work and in life in a different city with our kid. Chicago is beautiful. Chicago. Yes. I mean, my God, what a great city. I do love New York.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, yeah. It is fast again, from my experience where I was at.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And. And, yeah. And they. They announce it, and I think it's like a live stream. Celebrities do it, you know, so again, it's just like it's about having the opportunity to. To put ballroom dance in front of eyeballs. That wouldn't have ventured there for sure. So that, you know, besides the recognition, which I think Jen really deserves, she's incredible choreographer and I am an amazing bystander to her creativity. So that was also a special moment. But yeah, it was just getting into the room where it happens. The room where it happens. Yeah, it's like the Emmy parties with everybody, the directors, producers, like, so you're like, oh, this is what I've been doing for 12 years in the strange city.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, like you always feel. And again, maybe it's the immigrant thing, maybe it's the ballroom dance thing. Maybe it's, you know, all of the above.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You feel like you're visiting. You know, I always feel like, okay, when are they going to tell me to go back home? You know?

[Rob]

Wow, that's so interesting.

[Jenna Johnson]

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[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Because last time you here, Rome was just like a nugget. And now he's two.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. He's two in three months.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh my gosh.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So cute.

[Taylor]

So he literally must have like, like just. He must have been like a few months old.

[Jenna Johnson]

I know. I need to go back and look at exactly when we taped, we filmed.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I think it was like December. And she was not pregnant.

[Taylor]

No.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh. So then he was born in January. So we filmed, we launched in February.

[Jenna Johnson]

It may have been April. We may have taped in April.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

April 2023.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yes.

[Taylor]

Yep.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So it's been exactly two years then.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Okay. And. Yeah. Months old.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

So crazy how.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. Two years later.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

How has parenting shifted for you at all?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

It's more, it's more dynamic. I mean, when we last spoke, I was just like changing diapers. You know, it's like an assembly line of just keeping this thing alive.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And now we're. I'm. I could be of more influence and more, you know, there's more conversation.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Is like personalities coming out. Super cool.

[Jenna Johnson]

So cute.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Super cool kid. I, you know, now he's like having more frustrating moments as a parent. You have to exercise even more patience. And he's like slapping a lot. You. You gotta like teach all those things. But outside of that, I mean, the coolest kid, like, I'd rather chill with him than anybody else.

[Taylor]

That's awesome.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For sure.

[Jenna Johnson]

That's so cute. Oh, sorry.

[Taylor]

I was, I'm, I was curious if since becoming a parent, it's changed your perspective at all or made you, you know, you sound like a Very appreciative, thankful person to begin with. But change your perspective at all in the sacrifices that your parents made for you guys?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, yeah, for sure. I'm like, I've been a pretty thoughtful kid growing up where I recognized it as it was happening. I've been praising my parents for a long time. It's my favorite thing to do. Yeah, for sure. And now becoming a father, becoming a parent, it's like even more so. But also then you, like, reflect and like, there are a lot of things that, you know, it's what we talked about, the show, there's my experience, there's their experience, there are our collective experience.

[Jenna Johnson]

Sure.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So my experience, you know, my dad's a hero. I'm sure somewhere along the way he wasn't. You know, I've already spent more physical time with my kid at that age than my dad did with me.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

As the average numbers show, in general, our generation is just doing that.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's a privilege. That's. Etc. Whatever. It's a circumstance. I'm lucky. He was, in a word, you know, he was in a situation where he had to work. It wasn't a choice. He wasn't, you know, gambling while. But that's just reality. I am spending more time. I'm. I am already having that type of impact now. Again, I don't know if that's how that translates.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

In. In my, My kid.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I just also got lucky because my dad in supporting our dance kind of, you know, careers, he also got into dance as far as a business owner. So we have 15 dance studios called Dance With Me around the country, social dance studios. So we teach people that don't know how to dance, that want to start whatever age and. And mostly we cater to adults. So, you know, so it's a very much a Dancing with the Stars experience for. For the average person that wants to try it. So he got into it and we, you know, we've owned this dance studio for 20 years.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so this is a family business that we inadvertently ended up spending so much time together. Quality time too, because again, it's. It's a labor of love. We love dance. We love people, we love congregating with people and. And that's it. Sharing space.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And he's also. He's not a dancer, but he's. He's charismatic. He's awesome.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, he's a vibe. So I got a chance to love him and be with him. Still am, thank God.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But at work all the time.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, what if that wasn't the case? What if I can't. You know, went into biology or whatever. Yeah, he can. Or he was, you know, because he was a computer programmer in the late 90s and did well and quit his job.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And again, took. Took two social. You know, the. The pride once again. Took a hit to start the studio business.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That he had. He's not a dancer, so he's investing into. My brother was 17 at the time.

[Jenna Johnson]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

As. As the dance teacher.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I was like the star student.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And that was the package. Yo, sign your kids up for dance. But. Yeah. So this studio, again, it's. It's a beautiful environment. I don't know how we got into me pitching the studio, but the point is that it's like I. I just analyzed that. Right. Because a lot of questions like, are you gonna put them into dance? Are you gonna. You know.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I, first of all, yes, I would love to put him into dance. I think it's amazing.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Especially ballroom dance, where he is sharing space, you know, this whole conversation. I won worlds. I won this. I didn't do any of those things without my dance partner. And they, you know, switch through time. But for the most part, on average, I danced with one person for three years.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That was my teammate. Every day we practiced together.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I've been by the side of a young girl. Young. You know, I've grown up with. With girls, competed with girls, won and lost with girls. So I think as a human growing up in a, you know, in the world, that's a beautiful thing that isn't provided every day everywhere.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, it's a. It's a social service to put boys into ballroom dance, I think, anyway, so. But besides that, is that time spent together, like.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I am the achievement of my parents. Sacrifice and success and focus. A lot of people don't like the word sacrifice because a lot of parents are like, that's not a sacrifice. That's what parents are supposed to do. But a lot of parents choose not to do that, for sure. So it's. I'm a reflection. My brother is a reflection of their effort.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

My kid is going to be a reflection of mine, you know, and so that's. I'm already doing certain things differently from my dad, but I'm also inspired by a lot of things that he did.

[Taylor]

Totally.

[Jenna Johnson]

I love that.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh, my gosh, I can't wait to see him. Lindsay's been posting stuff of Sage.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Her little. Stepping on the little I have to show you these videos. There's so much.

[Taylor]

She's dancing.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah. She's taking her little ballroom classes and they have like little stars or like shapes on the ground and she like steps on them.

[Taylor]

Wow. You guys, you guys start them young.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But no, I, I'm not, I don't. In Utah. Again. But that's why you get the, the Arnolds and the Johnsons and the thing, you know, and the Chmerkovskis. Yeah. Because they do. They start them very young.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And the boys are doing all the sports until. Unless they signed up to dance, you know. And so again, culturally it's. There's a lot of ballroom dance in that community, but not enough. Still very. Just really one or two studios. One. I'll shout out center stage. That's where they're all from and will continue to be from there because it's a thriving ballroom dance community. Randomly placed in these.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Provo Mountains.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Taylor]

Is there like some, is there some like guru teacher there? That.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

There's shout out Kim Del Grosso. There's a, there's a guru human who is nurturing and it's already like seven generations. That's a lot. But like four generations. Again, a generation is. I'm counting from eight to. To 19.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, I'm not.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Generations of incredibly talented ballroom and all around dancers.

[Taylor]

It's her. That's this woman.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yes. Kim Del Gross. Again. There's a partner. Alec. This. This. But I'm I'm just saying if you're asking for the guru, I don't think it's a guru thing. I think it's a community thing.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

All families want their kids to be active. You know, dance is just one of the choices. They're probably excellent in arching and archery rather and all these other things that I am not a part of. So I don't know how good they stand on that. But as far as dance, they have a very thriving community. I want to shout out Kim Del Grosso because she is that energy and spirit. She's teaching like, you know, she raised like Derek and Julianne just in the Jana, John, Lindsay, you know, I just want to go down the list.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And still is like we were there last week. Is still, you know, teaching like five and six year olds like you know, animated musical theater or whatever, you know. So this is a person that's dedicated her life.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

To raising humans through the vehicle of dance.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, I too have that type of relationship with dance as well. But at the core of it is being of some sort of influence on the fellow man.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Human. Whether they're older, younger kids is a different relationship. Adults is a different relationship.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But it's awesome. That dance gave me that vehicle.

[Jenna Johnson]

That's so, it's so special.

[Taylor]

Can we get to the show?

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah, we can. Do you have any other questions on Parenthood before we do that?

[Taylor]

No.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Are you trying to say something?

[Taylor]

If you have one, go ahead. I'm just excited to talk about the show since we both watched it.

[Jenna Johnson]

I enjoyed it. Go ahead.

[Taylor]

We were talking before, but we, we love these type of shows. You're currently on. Gotta get out.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yes.

[Taylor]

Such a crazy concept. When it was first presented to you, was it like an automatic. Yeah, I'm in on that. Like, what was your first thoughts when you heard the concept? Yeah, it sounds intense. Like you got cameras on you 24 7. It's.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, no, I. Initially, I automatically is like, yes, I'm in. Then I, you know, then I look at what it is and whether I made the right choice.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But as far as a Hulu project that is produced by, you know, big people and has a big budget behind it and is gonna, is. Is interested in what I have to do with it. Thank you. You felt, yeah, let's do it.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Then I'm like, all right, I'm not, you know, I don't have to do this, I don't have to do that. And everything that I do have to do is within my, you know, like, I don't need somebody to tell me how to speak or how to present myself.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And everything else is a human experience. So I was just down for the, you know, that's. Yeah, that, that's the beauty of, I don't know, like, it's all always nerve wracking to be in so many different places, but at the same time, I'm so used to that and, and not one place has me like, yeah, this is my entire identity.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I'm okay with taking risks. That's a beautiful place. So again, I had no expectation with the show, to be honest. Even in the description of it was like, very limited. Like, yo, you're in a house for 10 days, money's going up, you gotta escape. Yeah, you escape. You escape with the money or you get caught. So going in, I initially thought that if I have a failed escape and I get caught, I, I get eliminated.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So it's like, listen, I'm either going home with money or I'm going home with, with experience. Yeah, I'm Definitely not staying here for 10 days.

[Taylor]

Right.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so then I realized, like, no, no, you're gonna be there for. Until you can get out. Literally.

[Taylor]

Right.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But no. Anyway, long winded. I was excited to do it. It never. Nothing felt like I was selling my soul or. Or venturing outside of my moral compass.

[Taylor]

It was a cool opportunity.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Opportunity. It was like. Like, have fun.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Again, I didn't. I also learned a lot. I. From that experience. Gotta get out. Is not like anything I've done on TV before. And it's not like, you know, I'm going into my 20th season of dancing with the Stars. But Dancing with the Stars is not reality TV in my mind, because I am just doing what I'm excellent at.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And they just figured out a format, how to shoot it and broadcast it to people. I'm not doing anything outside of what I do really well here. Reality TV is. Is not that. Reality TV is. What did you say to me, Taylor? Look at you. You know, it's like, whoa. We were just. We were just hanging out and that just came out of nowhere.

[Jenna Johnson]

Such a good.

[Taylor]

Your personality with some of those characters is so.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I couldn't. I. I was like. That's what was hard. I was like, is this for real or this is just like, for tv or is this a game? Or you just like playing this game? Really? I mean, Steve, Trash Can Steve, trash can lost 40. No, sorry. Gained 40 pounds for the show. Because in real life, he's actually a. A huge dude. Very muscular, works out like crazy. Is in prime shape. He gained because he didn't want to intimidate the house with. With that build. He wanted to kind of come off as, you know, Steve.

[Taylor]

What?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yes.

[Taylor]

Wait, Steve is.

[Jenna Johnson]

Who's the guy who was the writer?

[Taylor]

The writer?

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Who no one liked.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

What? Yeah, Trash Can.

[Taylor]

See, he was like a jacked guy.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

He and I like, into the show. I'm like, damn, bro, those calves. Torso. Yeah.

[Taylor]

What?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Nah, he. Because he looked like. What's his name from Not Minions in Despicable Me. The mean guy. Yeah, a little bit. But yo. No, he's.

[Taylor]

I would not have guessed that.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's. Yeah, he's a. In shape. Big.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Big. Like, I would not call him Trash Can Steve if he looked like that.

[Taylor]

That's so funny.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Jenna Johnson]

Oh, man, the Cavs is killing me. The Cavs aren't matching up.

[Taylor]

Up.

[Jenna Johnson]

That's so funny.

[Taylor]

Go ahead.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Because you can't gain weight on them things, you know? So I was like, yo, you exercise. I know you exercise.

[Taylor]

Right. Calves are a dead giveaway.

[Jenna Johnson]

You're probably the only person to like notice that. I'm curious how like your relationships formed in the house. Do you still keep in contact with anyone or.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's the crazy thing is, is like we still have a group chat really. Since the show. Wow. So. And we kind of talk about as like we split.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

At the end was quite like a bit anti climatic but at the same time it's what allowed us to continue to be friends. Like.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

10, you know, almost a year later we still, like I said, have this group chat.

[Taylor]

That makes sense.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Next. You know, tomorrow two of the guys are coming over to la. They're doing like a rap party, hanging out. They're staying in my house. You know, Rob, that those are the things that I'm like a little bummed about because I don't think rightfully so. I mean again, there was so many cameras in the house, 247 filming.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

There was too much to. I mean it would have to be like a 30 episode show.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Two hours minimum to have everything, to have all of the juice, you know. So I understand they have to make. Make decisions.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Probably outside of just providing the most truth.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But entertainment isn't always the truth.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

They did a great job.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But there were moments like again, me and Rob, Rob the lieutenant from Jersey City. I mean this is a guy that like feels so familiar to me.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And so we obviously became really, really good friends. That alliance didn't really translate that much. You know, I feel like people feel I, I have more of a tie with Susan which was authentic because me and Susan did have a great friendship and relationship as I did with a lot of people there.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But as far as my working of alliances.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, we had a couple. Couple. I mean here's something that again doesn't translate in the show. It's not just because I came off with this energy that like I'm trustworthy. Because the truth is if you escape like you, you worked with three other people, but you could keep the money.

[Rob]

Yeah, yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I think a lot of people gave off that energy.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, that like that they would keep them. That would keep the money. Yeah. I'm gonna keep all of it.

[Taylor]

Yeah. That's what you're there for.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So if people had clues, you know, there were few people that they trusted to run.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Because you had to run. You couldn't just like. Yeah, you know, it's true.

[Taylor]

The runners needed to be trusted people.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Right.

[Taylor]

Because they're the ones that can walk away with it or not.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And out of all the runners that were trustworthy, I was the only one that didn't pull a hamstring.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Straight up. Again, I don't know if it translates.

[Taylor]

Because you got an NFL running back.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But he was the other runner. But he had such a strong alliance, and his game. Rashad was like, he. His game was crazy to tell. So people were like, I don't know what the hell is going on with Rashad.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Steven, who's in. You know, there's a firefighter. The firefighter. He ran so fast. I was like, you took your shoes? Why did you take your shoes? I was like, I run fast.

[Taylor]

I was curious about that. He took the shoes off. I was like, why is he doing that?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You're gonna shatter every bone and you. Your foot. But, yeah, he'll grip that freaking cement. Oh, he's. And he's athletic. I mean, he's. He's. He's a firefighter. Active firefighter. He pulled his hamstring on that run and, like, really pulled it. So that. That's it. That's his last run. And we were in alliance together, too, so we could have probably switched off the runs on a few of them where I would have been distracted or doing things in the house.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But that's the thing is, like, as soon as I was not in the kitchen talking smack.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

They were, like, sums up. Where's Val? You know?

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That means I'm outside running. So everybody's already, like, by the button, you know, so you really had to kind of politic.

[Taylor]

Did you ever run, or. That's just athleticism.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, in life.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

No, because you.

[Taylor]

You also can.

[Jenna Johnson]

Was very impressive.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Dude, I was so upset. That last one, I was really upset because I was like, how slow am I? Not the last one. It was one of the escapes. How slow am I? Because Steve lied to us.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

About disabling the button.

[Taylor]

Yep.

[Jenna Johnson]

That was a.

[Taylor]

He screwed everyone.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I was like, yo, he disabled the button for 30 seconds, and I still didn't make it. How am I, like, floating? And everybody's like, no, bro, you look like the bad guy from Terminator. You have, like, the best posture running down this. But I was squeezing again. I'm not a track star. I play ball. I. I'm more of a lateral mover. You know, Like, I move my hips. I. I could lift people, whatever. But I'm not sprinting. Like.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

So I did my best.

[Taylor]

Oh, man.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But, yeah, everybody pulled their hamstrings yeah. So I was the only. That's why, that's why I knew I was going to make the cut regardless because I was like all they had left.

[Jenna Johnson]

Yeah. Their only hope. Do you feel like there was. Did everyone blend well or did like the reality people kind of keep to themselves and the normal people keep to.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Themselves or normal people. Honestly, the normal people were the least normal in the house.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. They, again, they, the, the stakes kind of made them lose their mind a little bit.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Whereas the celebrity reality stars, they were just chilling. You know, they're like, I'm, you know.

[Taylor]

Like I'm there to have a good time. Yeah, yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Not going to like pull a hamstring for some money.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But no, again, old jokes aside, we all blended because there's still one kitchen. And yes, there were. You build a little bit of obviously some chemistry with the, with your roommates because again, we lived in a house, but we were separated into like the blue room. So it was like me, doodles, Nick, Rob, Steve and Spencer. And I think this is also where. And also on the watchtower. We hung out quite a bit.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And you know, in that idle time, you're having conversation. But yeah, me and Spencer became good friends because of the fact that we shared this room together because we were, I mean, like dying laughing.

[Jenna Johnson]

I was curious if your personalities would get along.

[Taylor]

I know I would think either, like, actually, honestly, I wouldn't think they would.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Right. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, again, I think any other time they wouldn't.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But at a time where we're both father. Right. So like there's already something that I know about him.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That is common ground in the fact that he, he's a father of two and he's a loving father of two. You know, there's already common ground knowing that he has a wife that he loves for an extended period of time. They both, in television, they both, you know, and so again, I'm not saying that that's what a really. A friendship is built on. I. As a matter of fact, those aren't even the things we really touched on that much. But it was just in the back of my mind, I knew certain things about you. So on top of this, you're like recklessly funny.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And, you know, super witty. And of course I disagree with you on a lot of the way you. Your decision making. But I'm not judging. You know, it is what it is as far as. Yeah. He's just, he's just a funny. He's one of A guy, he's a funny dude. He's. Yeah, he's just a good dude that puts on an act of being this like awful person. But it's like, okay, who do you want? Right. Who do you want somebody that's lying about how good they are or lying about how bad they are.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, and. And I, I'll choose. Choose that. You know, so he's, he's a great time. We've also just met. You know, it's been a year. But when you spent 10 days.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Attached to the hip. Like a lot of that friendship process is expedited.

[Rob]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taylor]

The final escape. Did you think you were getting out? Because I sure did.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. For sure. Yeah. That was heartbreaking.

[Taylor]

How annoying was Rashad looking through that?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Oh, so annoying. So annoying. And I think Spencer like in, in the edit, Spencer is kind of narrating that whole thing which he does a great job depicting that. I mean Rashad was so freaking stubborn.

[Taylor]

Would he really just not leave there?

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

He would just not leave there. That sounds so on his toes. Like talk about calves.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I mean, so he was standing there and on the eyes on the brain, like.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You're just looking at nothing.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

For most of the time. Oh, blur. No, I was again, I was just frustrated for the camaraderie aspect. You know, it's just like such a storybook ending.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

We. We've collaborated all day. All, all these days and we failed a couple of times. And now we've. Because again, these clues are very like. It's just the chances of these things coming together.

[Rob]

Yeah, yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Are very slim.

[Taylor]

You gotta maximize the opportunity.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's why it was so nerve wracking.

[Taylor]

It felt like you had it in that moment.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah. I was like, okay, if I get past the windows on the side and I'm like, I'm. That's it. I'm outside.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

The only reason why I'm running because I just want to get it over just in case somebody just walks by and just.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

On a hunch, presses the button.

[Taylor]

Yeah. You should have been able to walk all the way down to the gate.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And I just was excited to come back and. And do the right thing. Right. So it's like also you're. I'm fighting for the opportunity to do the right thing. Yeah. Now that's why before we get to Stein and Cynthia, that's really was my motivation was also to. To show that like you could. Because those are the things that don't make the cut as well. It's like I preached a lot. Like, just like that's why I connected with Rob. That gesture wasn't just like a show to me. Even though I was like waiting for the cut to see if it was, it wasn't.

[Taylor]

It was genuine.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That's genuinely who he is, you know, And I'm motivated by that. And I was like, yo, here's a light hearted reality TV show where doing the right thing will be broadcasted to so many people.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And when money's involved too, doing the right thing is even harder. And so I felt like this is a great, would be such a great opportunity for me because, you know, I am in a better place and I'm lucky. I'm fortunate for that. But the money wasn't the driver. The driver was the opportunity to come back and be like, boom, boom, boom. Can we throw somebody else in here? Cuz, like, so as anticlimactic as like I said, that final share was, it was cool because you, you didn't want to leave anybody in this house without anything.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That would hurt.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

You know, so it's. And that's the thing. It's like it turned into less of this competition show and more about this human experience about people in the house. They have this goal. Yes. That goal is driving a lot of the, the action.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But there's still people. And they didn't lose their humanity along the way.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Over some money.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Maybe if there was more money.

[Taylor]

Maybe next season.

[Jenna Johnson]

Next season. We'll see. You did say in your last confessional though, that you were gonna buy Jenna a good gift.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Yeah, I did say that. And I did.

[Taylor]

You did.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

I did.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

A gift worth exactly what I won, actually.

[Taylor]

Wow.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Which is a very she's taking care of gift. Yeah. But it's more symbolic than, Than the actual gift.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

It's the fact that this isn't the numerical value of. Of your.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Your love.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

But there is no numerical value. As a matter of fact. Like, here's a gesture that. Again, I'm also not trying to overplay this gesture. It's not that much. But anyway, the point is that it's more of symbolism than anything.

[Taylor]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

And an accomplishment for myself as well. It's self serving. The fact that I am, I can, I can be a person that is able to do that for my loved one is a beautiful thing. Doesn't mean that that's the baseline of our relationship.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

That would be scary. But it's a nice little touch, you know, on a pretty solid baseline. I think?

[Rob]

Yeah. No, that's so sweet.

[Jenna Johnson]

Well, thanks for coming back and joining us. We'll have to have Jenna on next, Right?

[Taylor]

And then we can compare.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

These stories.

[Jenna Johnson]

It's so good.

[Taylor]

Thanks, man.

[Val Chmerkovskiy]

Thank you. I appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me. Admit it. So fun.

[Jenna Johnson]

Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.