{"id":265804,"date":"2026-09-29T12:16:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/jenna-johnson-and-val-chmerkovskiy-deny-creating-fake-chemistry-with-their-dwts-partners\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T12:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:16:29","slug":"jenna-johnson-and-val-chmerkovskiy-deny-creating-fake-chemistry-with-their-dwts-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/jenna-johnson-and-val-chmerkovskiy-deny-creating-fake-chemistry-with-their-dwts-partners\/","title":{"rendered":"Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy Deny Creating Fake \u2018Chemistry\u2019 With Their \u2018DWTS\u2019 Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Married Dancing With the Stars<\/em><\/a> pros Jenna Johnson<\/strong><\/a> and Val Chmerkovskiy<\/strong><\/a> have figured out the perfect balance of building a connection with their partners \u2014 without creating fake chemistry for the camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, half of dance is connection. It\u2019s chemistry \u2014 whether it\u2019s with your partner or whether it\u2019s with the audience or the camera,\u201d Johnson, 32, exclusively told Us<\/em> while discussing her and Chmerkovskiy\u2019s partnership with Fabuloso<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s all about storytelling, and if you don\u2019t have that, it kind of just falls flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson highlighted how \u201cpassionate\u201d she and Chmerkovskiy, 40, are about \u201cfinding an immediate connection\u201d with their partners, adding, \u201c[It\u2019s about] being able to have that palpable trust and bond so you can go out there and display a beautiful performance that people are going to emotionally connect with and feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chmerkovskiy, for his part, broke down his own personal definition of chemistry.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>DWTS’ Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy: A Timeline of Their Romance<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tJenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy started out as colleagues on Dancing With the Stars and ended up as a happily married couple in real life. The pair first crossed paths in 2014 when Johnson\u00a0became a DWTS troupe member. Chmerkovskiy had already been competing as a pro on the ABC competition series since season 13, which [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t seek to necessarily create certain chemistry so that a product can look a certain way,\u201d he shared with Us<\/em>. \u201cTo me, chemistry is camaraderie first and foremost. Are you friends? Are you willing to go and work hard together, stress together and be uncomfortable together?\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cAnd when I feel that \u2014 like what Jenna said [about how her partner] Harry Shum Jr.] is full-time working and making the sacrifice. You\u2019re bound to have chemistry with that person because you\u2019re like, \u2018You\u2019re showing up for this and for me,\u2019 because the show is an extension of what we love. So when our partners are showing up, that\u2019s when we\u2019re building that camaraderie and chemistry. Everything else gets built on top of that. For me, chemistry is defined by respect \u2014 mutual respect \u2014 and commitment to a common goal. To me, that\u2019s chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Johnson builds her bond with Shum on season 35, Chmerkovskiy is forming his partnership with actress Jenna Dewan<\/strong>. Each season of DWTS<\/em> comes with plenty of conversation on social media, but Johnson and Chmerkovskiy \u2014 who have been married since 2019 \u2014 have figured out a way to drown out the noise.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s hard, but you really do have to have blinders on,\u201d Johnson shared, with Chmerkovskiy adding, \u201cYou just don\u2019t venture deep south into the commons. You stay surface level with the top four or five comments usually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chmerkovskiy has learned not to let himself scroll too much.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need to be sober-minded about the whole thing. Not to get too high and not to get too low. Just be realistic about what it is. It\u2019s passion created by interest and there\u2019s so much positivity,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut these social networks, they work off of rage and clickbait. There\u2019s a whole ecosystem that now is touching us. When we didn\u2019t matter, those systems didn\u2019t matter and didn\u2019t care. Now that we matter \u2014 besides authentic and organic interest \u2014 there is now fabricated interest on top of that. We just have to adjust and adapt and filter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple, who each have a few mirrorball trophies under their belts, are still learning how to navigate the chatter as DWTS<\/em> becomes even more popular.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is new for us. When I received certain commentary that wasn\u2019t nice, I received it from real people [in the past],\u201d he added. \u201cNow I receive it from \u2014 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s even a real person or this is a campaign to sway certain things. I just try to focus on dance and focus on the joy that I get from creating and try to focus on the people that we do have a positive impact on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chmerkovskiy concluded: \u201cWe\u2019re not just happy for ourselves. We\u2019re happy for our entire cast. We\u2019re happy for the show because it\u2019s doing well and we\u2019re happy for our cast because we\u2019re a part of that. We\u2019re happy for dance and [the] dance community as a whole because of this interest. The important thing is to zoom out. When you\u2019re in it and your phone is in front of your face all day, once you zoom out, you see how beautiful this moment is.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Johnson and Chmerkovskiy aren\u2019t paying attention to everything<\/a> online, they have seen some of the funny reactions since season 35 began earlier this month. Johnson specifically weighed in on eagle-eyed viewers spotting that Shum\u2019s fly was down during their performance on Tuesday, September 22.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>\u2018Dancing With the Stars\u2018 Season 35 Themes Revealed<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tDancing With the Stars fans can get even more excited, because ABC just revealed the complete lineup of themes for season 35 following its two-night premiere. Season 34 alum Andy Richter\u00a0announced the full list on Friday, September 18, while hosting the \u201cOfficial DWTS Podcast.\u201d Just days earlier, the competition kicked off with the male and [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so funny. We finish the show and they walk us straight over to press and he looks down and he goes, \u2018Oh, my gosh, my fly was down the whole time.\u2019 We were dying laughing. So I love that the internet zoomed in enough to see that,\u201d Johnson quipped. \u201cI love that our show has people who are so passionate about it. We are drawing so much attention and at the forefront of that is dance. Who would have thought that dance would be this universal topic that people of all ages are discussing? It\u2019s hard to, like, block out all of the noise, but at the end of the day, I\u2019m just really proud. We\u2019re making impact and we\u2019re creating conversation and we\u2019re creating controversy all based off of art. At the end of the day, it\u2019s subjective and it\u2019s personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chmerkovskiy, meanwhile, had his own viral moment when Guillermo Rodriguez<\/strong> mistakenly<\/a> said he was in his 20s.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuillermo and I have a little bit of a showmance going on,\u201d Chmerkovskiy shared. \u201cIt\u2019s yet to be seen by the world. The fact that he gave me a little shout-out like that, it feels right. I can\u2019t wait to reciprocate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though they\u2019re already booked and busy on DWTS, Chmerkovskiy and Johnson still found time to partner with Fabuloso for their new \u201cMake Your World More Fabuloso\u201d campaign<\/a>. Inspired by season 35 of DWTS, the campaign highlights how Fabuloso\u2019s fresh scents can transform everyday cleaning into a more joyful experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to be partnering with Fabuloso since we just moved. We\u2019re in a new home and we are also parents of a 3-year-old toddler, so messes are just naturally part of our everyday life,\u201d Johnson explained, referring to son Rome. \u201cBut I\u2019m also severely OCD and a clean freak, so having something that can just calm my nerves and my stress and being able to come home to a scent that just immediately breathes clean home and freshness is everything that I\u2019m looking for. It just felt like such an organic and natural fit for our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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