It’s been a dramatic season of Dancing With the Stars with no shortage of drama behind the scenes. Now, Maks Chmerkovskiy, a choreographer and former alumnus of the show, is taking aim at current pro Jan Ravnik.
Ravnik was cast to be reality television star Jen Affleck’s partner for the ongoing 34th season of the show.
While the pair have been doing well enough to avoid getting disqualified so far, Chmerkovskiy shared his opinion that he doesn’t believe Ravnik was qualified for the position.
"I'm sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing with the Stars," he said to his wife, Peta Murgatroyd, during a recent episode of her podcast, The Penthouse With Peta.
"There's zero foundation technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I'm getting emotional. It is absurd, and this is unreal how blind we have to be, and God forbid say what's obviously there,” he went on.
Chmerkovskiy criticized Ravnik and Affleck’s latest dance from October 21, which received a score of 32/40.
"He had no idea what foxtrot is supposed to look like," he continued. "How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different from even ballroom dancing? We had this criticism weeks ago, and I'm like, 'Bro, is anybody going to explain it to him?'"
Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy seem to share the opinion that Ravnik was only hired on Dancing With the Stars because he has a background of working with big-name stars, most notably including being a backup dancer for Taylor Swift during The Eras Tour.
"They hired him. He's a Taylor Swift dancer. It's the obvious reason why he is hired," alleged Murgatroyd.