10 minutes of readingDancing with the stars fans let out a collective scream Tuesday night. Jenna Dewan and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, had one of the highest scores of the evening: 28 out of 30. They also won their dance against Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik, tied for second in the standings with Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov. Then, host Alfonso Ribeiro called Dewan’s name, eliminating him from the competition.
“I had a great time and loved sharing it with the world,” she said moments after being eliminated. “All love.”
Not even 48 hours later, Jenna sat down with Women’s health to share his story.
Women’s health: What is your dominant emotion right now? How have you been feeling since Tuesday?
Jenna Dewan: Overall, it really is the saying, “Two things can be true at once.” There are so many different emotions, and it’s hard to even express in words because, obviously, doing a show like this is such a huge undertaking, and it’s physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually intense. And so when it’s just over, it’s like a switch turns off, and then you almost don’t even know where you are.
I feel all kinds of things. Above all, I feel proud. I feel really proud of myself, and I’m proud of the last dance we gave in the ballroom, and I obviously feel sad that it’s over, that I can’t give any more dances and create any more special pieces. So I think it’s really both. I feel really proud of us, and I feel fulfilled, and I feel fulfilled, and I also feel sad that the journey of creating dances is over.
WH: Take me back to Tuesday evening. You did a great first dance, then you won your dance competition. What did you think when you heard Alfonso call your name?
JD: When you go through the show, it feels like any week could be you. The show is not necessarily a show about dancing. This is not necessarily a competition for the best dancer. It’s not about the best dance you give. There are so many other elements that come into play, which is great on the front end of a reality show. It inspires people to tune in for all kinds of reasons, but when you do that, you never know how it’s going to turn out.
Once it started to subside, it was just the two of us. You kind of get to a point like, “Okay, this might be our time. “And I felt like it was a tough week in terms of the online noise, I would say, that comes with making the show. So it absolutely never crossed my mind that this could be a possibility.
Jenna Dewan performing samba with partner Val Chmerkovskiy during the third week of the competition.
A dancer during a dance show
Even before Jenna got on the DWTS on the dance floor, viewers wondered if she belonged in the competition. How much dance experience a famous contestant can have — while still being considered a fair competitor — has long been a topic of debate among viewers.
Jenna began her career as a dancer, where she toured alongside legendary artists including Janet Jackson (she appeared in two of the singer’s music videos). In 2006, she landed her breakout role in Intensifyin which she plays a classically trained ballerina. She was the host of television shows Dance world And Naughty Dance as well as a judge on Come dance with me. Many fans of DWTS cited Jenna’s impressive resume as an unfair advantage. “How is Jenna Dewan part of this? She was a professional dancer. Hello! This is already so unfair,” one X user said. wrote on the platform after the official announcement of the cast for season 35.
It’s worth noting, however, that Jenna isn’t the first celebrity to join the show with previous dance experience – and it’s safe to say she’ll be far from the last. Stars like Heather Morris, Jordan Fisher and Charli D’Amelio have all been criticized for joining the show in the past, despite having a substantial head start among the other contestants. Even Alfonso, the show’s current host and season 19 winner, already had dancing experience.
WH: As you said, you have dance experience, but you hadn’t danced in a while. Do you feel like you’re at a disadvantage initially before you even get on the dance floor?
JD: I will say, through my history of watching the show and what I know about the show, that I saw that there was a problem with people with a dance background, and that there are obviously a lot of opinions about whether we should even have people who have a dance background competing on the show.
I’ve definitely asked many times, “Are you sure you want me on the show?” But the incredible people who make the show were really confident in expressing to me that this show had changed a lot, and that wasn’t the case. Dancing with the stars who have never danced. They wanted a very dynamic cast with all levels and strengths that they bring to the ballroom. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle for me, for sure, just because of the patterns of the show and the show’s loyalists and how they feel. But ultimately, the gift of doing something just for me was truly intoxicating, and it conquered any kinds of doubts or hesitations I had.
WH: You mentioned there was a lot of “noise” this season. How did this navigation go? You learn a lot about yourself and meet great people, but you’re also put under a microscope. How was it?
JD: The hardest part of the show, I would say, is that it really teaches you that joy and difficulty can coexist. There have been so many highs in this journey, and then so many moments of frustration, negative noise, and criticism that are honestly sad because they try to suck the joy out of the experience.
Even for me with a dance background, it’s vulnerable to show up in the ballroom every Tuesday and say, “Hey guys, watch my dancing and tell me what you think.” “And then you have the whole other element of this social, online, noisy world that almost feels like they’re out to tear people down, and I felt that was an unfortunate tinge to this series that didn’t need to happen.
WH: Did you find yourself connecting with your competitors through the shared experience of dealing with a lot of negativity?
JD: Part of the journey of the show is interesting because for the first good two weeks you rarely see the other contestants because you’re really in your own rehearsal space and just trying to get through the dances as quickly as possible with your partner. I think it was rare to see people in the hallways and come into contact with some of the competitors. But yes, we would definitely talk.
I think at one point Connor (Wood) made me laugh so hard because he said he saw some of the social negativity online, and he said, “Everyone needs to start journaling again.” » I laughed so hard, because he is absolutely right. At some point, we all thought it was okay to just tune in and be mean for no reason. We are real human beings who see and feel this, and I think this is forgotten.
When we did the team dance, that’s when we could really start to bond as competitors because we were finally working together for a dance and in a room together. I absolutely love them, and we were all talking about it and sharing our experiences about it, and how most of us, at that point, I think, had taken it off our phone or turned off social media.
Jenna Dewan performing the rumba with partner Val Chmerkovskiy during week 4 of the competition.
WH: What part of the competition do you think pushed you out of your comfort zone the most? What have you learned about yourself that might have surprised you?
JD: Naturally, because of my dance background, I had very high expectations of myself and those that the world placed on me. I didn’t even realize it was happening, but it created this feeling that I needed to let go of perfection and get comfortable with being seen and just being there. I had nothing to prove.
I think I just realized how much time I’ve spent my life wanting to do things right. And that experience really challenged me, because what I realized is that you just can’t grow if you’re constantly worrying about being perfect. I had to learn to be a little uncomfortable, to be criticized again, to make mistakes, to be vulnerable and to let people see me finding something. There’s actually a lot of freedom in that, because I wasn’t fully proficient in ballroom dancing by the time I got there.
WH: Was there a specific moment when you felt this change in yourself?
JD: I thought every dance we did. I thought during the week there were two dancing, and it intrigued me that (the judges) were so critical of certain dances. However, when I look back, I have made a lot of progress.
There was a whole element to this that was sort of discovering my strength in a new way because I’ve had three children, I’ve gone through huge life transitions, I’ve built a career, a family, a life, and now I’m entering this show where I’m pushing myself physically, emotionally, and creatively in ways that I haven’t done in years. So I think I surprised myself with how strong I am, not just physically, but emotionally.
Dancing through the noise
Jenna also faced an unexpected complication when her partner, Val, was suspended for an episode of the show following a social media post about DWTS Judge Carrie Ann Inaba. After Carrie Ann criticized her wife, professional dancer Jenna Johnson, for including what she considered an illegal lift in her routine with Harry Shum Jr., Val posted, “You almost saw Fresh Prince walk into the ballroom last night.” The now-deleted post was widely interpreted as a reference to the 2022 Oscars, when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Carrie Ann appeared to perform the…
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