Dancing With The Stars has not only had a lot of celebrities, but also a lot of professional dance partners throughout the years. The professionals come from all over the world and from either professional competitions or other dance shows (such as So You Think You Can Dance).
Valentin Aleksandrovich "Val" Chmerkovskiy is one of those professional dancers. Chmerkovskiy was born on March 24, 1986, making him 35-years-old. He was born in Odessa, Ukraine and moved to the U.S. as a kid.
Currently, dancing on season 30 of DWTS with YouTuber Olivia Jade, Val is one of the long-time pros on the show and has generally been a favorite among fans for years. From his time on the popular dance show to world dance competitions, a memoir, tours, relationships and everything in between, here is everything we know about Dancing with the Stars pro, Val Chmerkovskiy.
9 Early Life
Val Chmerkovskiy was born in the Ukraine to Aleksandr "Sasha" Chmerkovskiy, a marine merchant, and Larisa Chmerkovskaya, an engineer. He also has one brother, Maksim "Maks," whom has also been a pro on DWTS. He grew up in a multidenominational household- his dad is Jewish and his mom is Christian.
In 1994, they moved to America, specifically Brooklyn, NY, to start a new life, where he attended The Hudson School. His dad and brother started a dance studio, where he was one of the students. Chmerkovskiy started dancing a the age of 7 and started entering competitions at the age of 12.
8 Dance Studios
Besides having a success dancing career on Dancing With The Stars and otherwise, he also earns his money by being the co-owner of nine social dance studios. Chmerkovskiy owns "Dance With Me Studios" with his brother. There are six locations in the New York metropolitan area and three more in Southlake, Texas, The Woodlands, Texas and Summerlin, Nevada. They previously owned one in Sherman Oaks, California, but that has since changed ownership.
According to their website, DWM offers "the ultimate dance experience blending fun, ease, and comfort with quality dance instruction— in the most beautiful dance studios." They also offer private lessons, group dance classes, social parties and events.
He is also the co-founder of Dance & Co., a video-on-demand website that gives members access to dance classes, workout and entertainment, all at the touch of their fingertips.
7 Val Chmerkovskiy's National Championships
The 35-year-old started dancing very young, as he was trained by his father and entered national and international dance competitions as a kid and teenager. At 12-years-old, he entered his first overseas competition, The German Open. Val and his partner were one of only two couples there. His brother and his partner were the second.
At the age of 15, Val and his partner, Diana Olonetskaya, also 15, became the first American dance team to win a world junior championship title at the IDSF World Championship. During his 15-year dance career, Chmerkovskiy has been a U.S. champion 14 times including German Open, Asian-Pacific Championships, U.S. Open, Blackpool and the World Championships 2-times (Junior and Youth).
6 'Dancing With The Stars'
Chmerkovskiy first appeared on season two of Dancing With the Stars as a student of his brother. He appeared a few more times on the show before actually becoming a pro during season 13. His first partner was with model and actress Elisabetta Canalis. Since then, he has also been partnered with Sherri Shepherd, Kelly Monaco, Zendaya, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Danica McKellar, Janel Parrish, Rumer Willis, Tamar Braxton, Ginger Zee, Laurie Hernandez, Normani, Victoria Arlen, Nancy McKeon, Sailor Brinkley-Cook, Monica Aldama and currently, Olivia Jade.
He has won the mirrorball trophy two times, once with Willis and again with Hernandez and has placed in the finals many times. He is the only professional to go three consecutive seasons without ever scoring less than an 8.
5 Val Chmerkovskiy's Tours
Besides touring around the country with his DWTS co-stars, Chmerkovskiy has also toured with his brother, sister-in-law and other dancers on their own tours. They recently went on their "Stripped Down" tour, which was a modified version of their cancelled 2020 "Motion Pictures" tour. They started touring together in 2016 and have gone on the road ever since, selling out venues across the U.S., following the footsteps of another DWTS sibling pairing, Derek and Julianne Hough.
4 His Memoir
In March 2018, Chmerkovskiy released his first book, a memoir titled "I’ll Never Change M Name: An Immigrant's American Dream from Ukraine to the USA to Dancing with the Stars." The book detailed his life, career and experience as an immigrant who moved to the U.S. at a young age and his time on the show. His book has followed other DWTS professionals' including Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, judge Len Goodman and former host, Tom Bergeron.
3 Trained Musician
Everyone knows that Val Chmerkovskiy is a trained and talented dancer, but not too many know he is also a musician. Going by the name VC, the pro dancer became a rapper for a short amount of time and released songs like "White Boy Boogie," "Champagne Diet" and "Straight Outta Jersey," in which his dog at the time Sir Sleep-a-lot appeared in the video. In his "25 Things You Didn't Know About Me" piece for Us Weekly, Chmerkovskiy revealed he is a classically trained violinist and played in a youth orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
2 Val Chmerkovskiy's Relationship
Val had been rumored to date some of his past partners, but nothing was ever serious until he met fellow Dancing With The Stars pro and So You Think You Can Dance alum, Jenna Johnson. They began dating in 2015, in an on-again, off-again relationship. After a few rocky years, he confirmed they were dating again in 2017. Johnson and Chmerkovskiy got engaged in June 2018, which they confirmed on Instagram and got married on April 13, 2019.
1 The Current Rumors About Val Chmerkovskiy
Being in the public eye and growing intimate relationships with your dance partner throughout the season lead fans to believe something might be going on between Val and Olivia Jade, more than their professional relationship. There was speculation that the season 30 pair was "hooking up." The YouTuber and TikTok star shut down the rumors very quickly saying that they are not hooking up, have never hooked up and she adores his wife.