DWTS’ Val Opens Up About Performing While Jenna Johnson Faced Miscarriage
Dancing With the Stars professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy openly shared his experience of performing shortly after his wife, Jenna Johnson, faced a miscarriage.
“I can’t recall how I stumbled upon this old video while scrolling through my posts. Nonetheless, I find myself reflecting on this spontaneous performance with [my brother] Maks [Chmerkovskiy], which occurred because my wife (who I was meant to dance with) had just suffered a miscarriage,” Val, 39, expressed via Instagram Story on Monday, March 31. The footage showcased him and Maks, 45, dancing on stage. “Now, a few years later, we are blessed with a beautiful boy, but at that moment, it was a ‘the show must go on’ situation that I now feel conflicted about.”
Val found it challenging to be apart from Johnson, 30, during their shared grief. He elaborated, “My wife was literally upstairs in excruciating emotional and physical pain, and I had never personally experienced such profound loss. I felt numb, empty, and my thoughts were solely with Jenna.”
Despite his personal turmoil, Val recognized his professional obligations. “I put on a smile, donned my big boy pants, and performed as I had throughout my life, ensuring I didn’t let anyone down. People had paid, made arrangements, and were counting on me,” he remarked. “I’m not even certain what the point of this message is, outside of posing a question. When does one earn the right to give up? When is it acceptable to finally say no? When is it okay not to show up?”
He concluded with, “I have no regrets, and I was up there right before and shortly after with my lady. NO ONE KNEW (I told Maks that Jen had hurt her neck & needed him to step in for me), so no one expected this from me. But wow… what a moment, and how bewildering it all is.”
Val and Jenna met while working on Dancing With the Stars and began dating in 2015. They got married four years later. In January 2023, they welcomed their son, Rome. Later, Jenna opened up about a miscarriage she experienced prior to getting pregnant with Rome.
“It’s astonishing how one can undergo immense joy followed by deep devastation and sorrow,” Jenna revealed on the “MomForce” podcast in June 2023. “I ended up miscarrying. We were in Dallas, Texas for a show, rehearsing for a significant event that was set to take place throughout the weekend… and Val and I were practicing in the afternoon.”
During rehearsals, Jenna realized something wasn’t right, saying, “I rushed to our hotel room and once there, I was just gushing blood. I ended up having a miscarriage in our room, and it was just terrible. There’s no other way to describe it. You feel so powerless. There’s nothing you can do in that moment.”
The professional dancer expressed her gratitude for the support she received from friends and those who had experienced similar losses.
“It became so clear to me that I’m not alone in this, and it’s a conversation that needs to happen because of all the emotions I went through, all that trauma, all that darkness,” she continued. “It left me in a deep depression for about eight months. It truly did. This is a topic that needs to be addressed.”
