Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy has addressed fan complaints that his Season 35 celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, has an unfair advantage given her extensive dance experience.

ADVERTISEMENT

Before landing her breakout role in the 2006 dance movie Step Up alongside now-ex-husband Channing Tatum, Dewan worked as a backup dancer and appeared in music videos for Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore, Toni Braxton and more.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

On Wednesday, September 2, Val took to Instagram and posted a Reel of his Dancing with the Stars preparations -- including traveling, red carpet interviews and rehearsing with Jenna. 

"Some stuff I'm doing lately. I have sooooooo much stuff to share, I promise to be even more transparent this season and take you along for the ride of a lifetime," Val captioned his post.

The Instagram Reel included a screenshot of someone asking Val in a message, "How are you going to deal with all the 'she's already a dancer' comments?"

Val apparently wrote in reply, "I won't [deal with backlash]. Same way I didn't deal with so many other comments for so many years."

Val added, "I can't control how others feel about me or mine, but I can control how much love and effort I put into my work."

Jenna downplayed the idea that her impressive dance background may give her an advantage on Dancing with the Stars during a September 2 interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"I do not know how to ballroom dance," the actress insisted. "Let's be clear. It's two different languages."

Jenna admitted that while there are "parts" of her dance training that will be "helpful" competing on the ABC reality dancing competition, she still has a tough road ahead of her.

"I've learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me," she explained.

"It's a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off, initially, because I had to unlearn a lot of -- I don't want to say bad habits -- but just habits of the style that I'm used to."

Jenna also revealed that her dance history made her "a little more nervous" about signing on for Dancing with the Stars because expectations are high and ballroom dance actually "feels really foreign" to her.

"It's not like you're giving me a style that I've done -- I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges," Jenna shared.

"But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself."

Val told EW that it's "naive" to think Dancing with the Stars is only about dance and technique.

"It's about the human experience and the human journey and how much you're willing to reveal yourself," Val explained.

"Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people -- and I think that's our advantage."

Val acknowledged, however, that Jenna is going to begin Dancing with the Stars with "incredible talent."

"And with great talent comes incredible expectation -- that's my challenge," the pro dancer and choreographer explained.

"The way I approach things is that you're only as good as the thing that you've never done, so I'm going to push her and push us to showcase to the world something they haven't seen from her yet."

Val said it's "a challenge in itself" to unveil something completely new and different about his famous celebrity dance partner.

"Because we've [already] seen her at the highest form of dance," he concluded.

Jenna also hosted two seasons of World of Dance, Flirty Dancing in 2019, and Come Dance with Me in 2022. Fans may have also seen her serving as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance.

In addition to Jenna, the Dancing with the Stars cast also includes Save the Last Dance actress Julia Stiles.

Val's wife, fellow DWTS pro partner Jenna Johnson, also recently defended the show's controversial practice of casting celebrities with prior dance training in an interview with Us Weekly.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

The entire cast of Dancing with the Stars' 35th season was announced Wednesday, September 2 on Good Morning America.

Dancing with the Stars is set to premiere with a two-night event on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS