Pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in his inability to perform during the next live episode of Dancing With The Stars season 31. Val is currently partnered with The Bachelorette's Gabby Windey. He and Gabby have been in the top three of the leaderboard for the entirety of DWTS season 31 so far.
Just three days before DWTS' Halloween Night, Val took to Instagram to reveal he had tested positive for COVID-19. He admitted that the situation "sucks majorly." Val feels disappointed that he cannot perform in the next round of DWTS season 31, especially since it is Halloween Night. He had been looking forward to his and Gabby's Argentine Tango. In addition to this, Val also feels that he has let some people down but did not go into any further detail.
Alan Bersten Will Dance With Gabby Windey On DWTS
Luckily, there is a positive to this negative situation. Val let fans know that Gabby did in fact test negative. Therefore, she is allowed to continue performing on DWTS. Fellow pro dancer Alan Bersten will be stepping in for Val to finish the last few days of rehearsals with Gabby as well as to perform live with her on Monday. Alan and his former partner Jessie James Decker were eliminated in the previous round following Michael Bublé Night. Val has faith that Gabby is in good hands with Alan as her temporary partner. He also asked fans to continue to vote for him and Gabby to ensure their safety in remaining in the competition.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened during DWTS season 31. In week 2, Daniella Karagach also tested positive for COVID-19. The professional dancer received her results the morning of Elvis Night, resulting in her not being able to perform with partner Joseph Baena. In a matter of hours, Joseph was forced to relearn his dance with a new partner. DWTS troupe dancer Alexis Warr stepped in for Daniella. Luckily, the two survived elimination; however, Daniella was forced to miss the following live show as well. Daniella and Joseph were later eliminated during week 5 of the competition.
Unlike Joseph, Gabby has two whole days to rehearse with her new temporary partner. This gives her plenty of time to readjust to dancing with a new partner for the first time. Gabby has yet to comment on Val testing positive for COVID-19. It is currently unclear how long Val will be absent from the Dancing With The Stars ballroom.
Dancing With The Stars streams Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT on Disney+.
Source: Val Chmerkovskiy/Instagram