Maks Chmerkovskiy isn’t sure first-time Dancing With the Stars pro Jan Ravnik has what it takes to win the mirrorball trophy.
During a recent appearance on wife Peta Murgatroyd‘s “The Penthouse With Peta” podcast, Chmerkovskiy, 45, weighed in on Ravnik’s performance so far on season 34 with partner Jen Affleck — and he wasn’t impressed.
“Dancing With the Stars is a worldwide phenomenon. … I’m sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing With the Stars,” Chmerkovskiy claimed on the Friday, October 24, episode. “There’s zero foundation technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I’m getting emotional. It is absurd, and this is unreal how blind we have to be and God forbid say what’s obviously there.”
Pointing to the pair’s foxtrot during Wicked Night — which earned them 32 out of 40 points from the judges — Chmerkovskiy argued that Ravnik, 30, had “no idea” what the dance style entailed.
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“How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different from even ballroom dancing? We had this criticism weeks ago, and I’m like, ‘Bro, is anybody going to explain it to him?’” Chmerkovskiy continued.
Before joining season 34 of the ballroom competition, Ravnik performed alongside Taylor Swift as one of her backup dancers on The Eras Tour.
Murgatroyd, 39, noted that the performance was “moody and dramatic,” but she “did not love the foxtrot elements” that Ravnik included “because it just didn’t hit the technique” for her. She did, however, praise the couple’s “beautiful partnership and partner work” in the routine.
“He’s learning,” Murgatroyd said of Ravnik. “He’s learning slowly. It’s his first season, we have to give him grace for not understanding foxtrot technique.”
Chmerkovskiy was not on board with the idea of giving grace. “We saw one dance that delivered some sort of direction … and then it [was] just off the cliff,” he claimed.
The former DWTS pro — who won the competition once in a total of 17 seasons — insisted he had nothing against Ravnik. “This was a missed opportunity,” Chmerkovskiy continued. “[It’s a] major disadvantage. [Jen] has no partner. … It’s not his fault.”
Murgatroyd pointed out that Ravnik’s history with Swift, 35, is “an obvious reason” for why he was cast on the show, “apart from that he’s a lovely guy, he looks great, he obviously is a great dancer.”
“Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous,” she continued. (Murgatroyd won two out of her 15 seasons on DWTS.)
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Chmerkovskiy said that past seasons have featured pros with less ballroom expertise who “immediately integrated” into the process. Murgatroyd argued that the troupe would have been a better place for Ravnik to start his career on the show.
“He should’ve learned, gone to ballroom classes,” she said. “Look, what I would do if I were him — and I don’t know what he’s doing behind the scenes, let’s be honest. … But I would do my four hours in the studio, whatever I needed to do, and then I would take [Jen] for another four hours and go elsewhere.”
Along with his Eras Tour background, Ravnik has won multiple titles as a competitive dancer. Earlier this month, Ravnik joked that the DWTS judges are spending a little too much time evaluating his choreography instead of Affleck’s dancing.
“They’re just obsessed with me or something,” he teased to Us Weekly exclusively after Disney Night on October 7. “I mean, look, I am new, so I’m gonna take every note that they’re giving to me. I don’t think it’s in a bad way that they’re always saying.”
Affleck, for her part, previously praised her partnership with Ravnik as they worked together in the studio. “I am so excited,” she told Us in September. “There’s a lot of energy. We’re both newbies, and I’m just so excited.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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