As excited as many were to see Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik advance to Dancing With The Stars' semifinals round on the 2026 TV schedule, it came at a cost. Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy were sent home after seemingly being shoo-ins to make the finale. Val is obviously disappointed, but luckily his 3-year-old son knew just what to say to get his spirits up.
Val shared a video on Instagram of his son, Rome, giving him some words of encouragement after his elimination on DWTS. The clip picked up in the middle of a conversation about what happened, and my heart is so full listening to Rome offer his dad words of encouragement:
Yeah, you try your best...if you don't win sometimes. You try to win so many times. People want you to win because you're a great dancer.
It's not a candidate for the best film speeches of all time, but as a parent, I know it meant the world to hear. Knowing that, even if Dancing With The Stars fans wanted you to go home, your kid still is in your corner and wants you to be ok, and that is such a great feeling that trumps everything else.
I'm sure Val's elimination is a big topic of discussion in the household, as Rome's mother, Jenna Johnson, is still on Dancing With The Stars with Harry Shum Jr. The duo is far and away the most talented piar in Season 35, but as we saw with Val and Jenna Dewan's elimination, that doesn't guarantee safety. Val better save this video to pass it along to his wife, just in case:
Tatyana Ali's advancement really throws a wrench in what originally seemed like a straightforward finals lineup. Should fans vote her through to the finale, at least one more couple that many expected to make it to the end will be sent home early. I've already made a few guesses on who that could be, but I think it's safe to say no one is safe headed into the semifinals.
Jenna Dewan and Val's journey on Dancing With The Stars Season 35 was a rollercoaster, which was made more chaotic by the pro's suspension after online comments he made toward Carrie Ann Inaba. Whether that played a factor in them being sent home is up for readers to decide, though I think this was just a case of them not having as many fans supporting them as Tatyana and Jan.
Jenna Johnson and Val have a long-running history on the show, and they have very passionate fans. With him out of the competition, I wonder if their supporters will jump on the Harry train, making their win this season even more inevitable. We've seen surprises before on finale night, so I'm not completely ruling out someone winning over him!
Dancing With The Stars continues on ABC and for those with a Disney+ subscription on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. These next two weeks might be the most exciting episodes of Season 35 yet, so make sure to mark your calendars! And for the couples who get sent home next, please remember those sweet words Rome shared with his dad.
