Dancing with the Stars Season 35 doesn’t premiere on the 2026 TV schedule until September 15, but the drama is already in full swing. Before any of the celebrities and their professional dance partners have even started the live competition series, The Traitors alum Maura Higgins, who will compete in the new season, has made it known that she’d be cool to partner with anyone, except for Gleb Savchenko.
I’m not sure how the partnering selections work for DWTS, or just how much say the celeb cast has over who they get to perform with, but Higgins is being very vocal and clear about who she doesn’t want to spend time with. While that may seem harsh, she has reason, and now Gleb has responded.
Why Maura Higgins Does Not Want To Dance With Gleb Savchenko
Maura Higgins and Brooks Nader share the bond of both coming from the world of reality television. From Love Island to Dancing on Ice and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, it was only a matter of time before the Love Island Games challenge host followed her friend’s footsteps into the DWTS ballroom. So, when a conversation with E! News turned to who Higgins might want to pair up with, she made it clear that she wasn’t interested in spending time with Gleb Savchenko, Nader’s showmance-turned-romance ex.
I'd be happy with anyone except Gleb. That's only because I'm loyal and I'm friends with Brooks [Nader].
While it’s been over a year since the romance between Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko sparked during Season 33, that doesn’t mean the drama has been forgotten.
Dancing with the Stars has been known for its fair share of romances, but the relationship between Brooks and Gleb was more public than most, ending dramatically after less than a year when the model/actress accused the dancer of cheating on her own reality series, Love Thy Nader. Gleb then made some unkind remarks about her and their relationship.
Now, Maura Higgins has weighed in by telling the outlet:
I don’t really like the way he speaks about women.
With all that being said, it's clear why she has no interest in dancing with Gleb. Now, the pro has responded.
How Gleb Savchenko Responded to Maura Higgins Comments
Gleb Savchenko is also entitled to speak to his side of things and recently did so in a statement to People. Firing back against Higgins' comments, the dancer said:
Until I was asked to comment on this story, I’d genuinely never heard of Maura, so I was quite surprised to learn she’d spoken about me so negatively. We’ve never met, and she doesn’t know me personally, so it’s disappointing to be judged based on a one-sided version of events rather than the facts.
Higgins has expressed interest in wanting Traitors co-star Mark Ballas as her pro partner and has even been seen dancing with Val Chmerkovskiy. However, no final decision about who she’ll be paired with has been revealed yet.
The Traitors star has said that she will bring her personality and charisma and try her best since she has two left feet; it will be interesting to see how it ultimately all plays out. DWTS Season 35 will premiere with a two-night event on ABC, and you can stream it with a Disney+ subscription.
