Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko has clarified where he stands with fellow pro dancer Alan Bersten after publicly criticizing him.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gleb, 43, insisted that he has no personal issues with Alan, 32, despite previously making comments about his fellow pro's dancing abilities.
RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)
"I mean, look, I love Alan. I think he's a great guy, and there's nothing personal at all," Gleb told Us Weekly in West Hollywood on Tuesday, November 10.
Gleb went on to explain that he believes every pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars has something different to offer, although he suggested some stand out more than others.
ADVERTISEMENT
"In my opinion, every single professional dancer on the show is a star on its own. When you look up in the sky, there's some stars that shine brighter, and some of them are not," Gleb explained.
"So that's what I've been coming from, because it's just different."
Gleb insisted that Alan has plenty of strengths as a dancer and maintained that his previous remarks weren't meant to be a personal attack.
"There's a lot of things" Alan does well, Gleb acknowledged.
"There's nothing personal," he continued. "I love him. He's my friend."
ADVERTISEMENT
Gleb also suggested that some people had taken his remarks too seriously, particularly those who don't have professional ballroom dancing experience.
"People are just very sensitive nowadays and... there's a lot of opinions from people who have no idea about ballroom dance," Gleb said.
Prior to Dancing with the Stars' Season 35 Dedication Night on Tuesday, October 20, Gleb had criticized Alan's dancing technique during a TikTok livestream, suggesting that Alan wasn't skilled enough to replace Val and dance with actress Jenna Dewan.
"Alan, I think he's Alan. I mean, he's just not up to the level of the dancing, like, period," Gleb said at the time.
After criticizing Alan's "quality" and "technique," Gleb added, "He's a good dancer, I guess, for TV, but if we talk about [the] art [of] dancing, like, creating art? He's like, eh."
ADVERTISEMENT
Alan was asked to fill in for Val after Val, 40, received a one-week suspension over a controversial social media comment about Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
Val had defended his wife, Jenna Johnson, after Carrie Ann criticized her samba with Harry Shum Jr. and called out a prohibited lift during the show's October 13 broadcast.
In a since-deleted comment, Val wrote that viewers "almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom," apparently referencing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
The show's production company subsequently deemed Val's comment inappropriate and asked him to sit out of DWTS for one episode. Val has since apologized publicly for his comment and to Carrie Ann directly.
Once Gleb's inflammatory remarks about Alan made headlines and even former DWTS pro Louis van Amstel publicly scolded him, he posted another TikTok livestream claiming he "didn't attack Alan at all."
ADVERTISEMENT
"Alan is a good dancer for his niche, okay? He's great for his thing, but he cannot be compared to Val. Okay?" Gleb said.
He added, "I'm not talking trash, I'm just saying how it is... It's like a very cancelled culture right here."
During his interview with Us on November 10, Gleb insisted there's no bad blood with Alan, although he refuses to apologize.
"I stand by my opinion, and I don't really care what other people say. And I love the guy," Gleb explained.
"There's nothing against him. I was kind of hurt for Val at some point because he's a friend of mine. He was put in a situation which I think -- in my opinion -- he should have not been put [in], and the producers may have set an example in some ways."
Gleb said his problem was with the show, not Alan, for choosing to "punish" Val for supporting his wife.
"It's a TV show. It's not that serious... So when you do something like this, I'm sitting in Ibiza in Spain, sipping my wine and eating a prosciutto, and I'm like, 'Damn, this guy [is] being treated like that?'" Gleb shared.
RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)
Val, for his part, issued a public apology amid the scandal and returned to Dancing with the Stars to perform with Jenna on Horror Movie Night.
Val and Jenna were eliminated from the Season 35 competititon during Grammy Night on November 10, just one week before the semifinals.