Jenna Dewan had no intention of letting her Dancing With the Stars partner Val Chmerkovskiy’s suspension sully her time in the ballroom.
“I did not foresee having as many challenges as I did that were thrown at me during my Dancing with the Stars journey,” Dewan, 45, told Women’s Health in an interview published Friday, November 13. “However, the challenges of it gave me an opportunity to walk my talk, and I always think that when that happens, you can go back to your true north, to what’s your intention for doing something.”
Dewan, who was eliminated from the hit ballroom competition earlier this week ahead of the semifinals, tried to quiet the noise during the unprecedented moment by focusing on remaining positive.
“How do you want to show up as a human when you’re experiencing challenges? And I kept going back to my kids,” the Rookie star, who shares daughter Everly with ex-husband Channing Tatum and two younger children with partner Steve Kazee, said. “When the mid-season suspension happened, and all these things were going on, I thought, ‘I have a real opportunity here.’”
BBC Studios, the production company behind DWTS, suspended Chmerkovskiy, 40, for one week last month after the pro dancer threatened physical violence against judge Carrie Ann Inaba via social media for criticizing his wife Jenna Johnson’s own routine — the first suspension in the reality TV competition show’s history. (Chmerkovskiy issued a public apology to Inaba, 58, amid the drama.)
In Chmerkovskiy’s absence, Dewan danced with fellow pro Alan Bersten for a Dedication Night tribute to her mother.
“[I thought], ‘I can be annoyed and bitter and upset about this, or I can show up with grace and love and joy and focus on the moment,’” she recalled to the outlet. “That particular week was about my mom and my dedication to her.”
Dewan added, “[My mom] was in town, thrilled to have this dance with me, and thrilled to experience this moment, and I thought that, ‘This is something she’s going to remember. We’re all going to remember my family forever. Let’s focus on that, and let’s not worry about all of this that’s going on.’”
Chmerkovskiy returned to the ballroom for several more weeks of competition. The dance partners were ultimately sent home during Grammy Night on Tuesday, November 10.
“It’s kind of hard to even put into words because, obviously, doing a show like this is such an enormous undertaking, and it’s physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually intense,” she told the magazine of her ballroom curtain call. “When that’s just finished, it’s like a light switch goes off, and then you almost don’t even know where you are. I feel all kinds of things.”
While there is a certain sadness about leaving DWTS, Dewan is overwhelmingly proud of herself for tackling the journey.
“I feel mostly proud. I feel really proud of myself, and I feel proud of the last dance we gave on the ballroom floor,” she noted. “I feel obviously sad that it’s over, that I don’t get to give any more dances out there and create any more special pieces. I think it’s really both. I feel really proud of us, and I feel fulfilled, and I feel filled up, and I also feel sad that the journey of creating dances is over.”
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+ at 8 p.m. ET.
