Val Chmerkovskiy says Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr. are being judged on a harder curve this season. He and Jenna Johnson think prior dance experience has changed how Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough are reading early performances on Dancing with the Stars.
Jenna Johnson put it plainly: “I think you saw it in the premiere night. I think they are holding our partners to a little bit of a higher standard based on their experience, which is great. We don't want a free pass.” That matters because the scoring conversation is already happening before the season has settled, and it puts technique, not name recognition, at the center of the debate.
Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr
Val said Jenna Dewan’s talent and experience are advantages, but he framed the deeper edge differently. “I think realistically, the advantage is the human that's in front of me. Jenna Dewan is an incredible human being, a mother, an artist, a beautiful soul that I just want to bring joy into her life, and I think that really translates on Dancing with the Stars, seeing her grow, seeing her reveal herself,” he said. He added, “Those are the things that I think are mine and Jenna's biggest advantages going into the season.”
He also joked, “There's no Channing [Tatum], but there's a Val Chmerkovskiy,” a line that points to how the show sells ballroom through personal reinvention as much as choreography. For viewers, that means Dewan is not just being measured against the week’s routine; she is being watched through the lens of how much she changes on camera.
Harry Shum Jr and criticism
Jenna said she and Harry Shum Jr. were already prepared for early criticism about dance backgrounds. “Harry and I had talked, like, 'this is going to be a thing, there's no reason to shy away from it, like let's own it, but let's just go for it,'” she said. She also said he “doesn't need to prove anything,” because he is “genuinely so enthralled with ballroom.”
That creates the built-in friction this season: the same history that gives both partners polish can also make every mistake look bigger. Val said the show “has exploded and is on the forefront of a lot more conversations and a lot more opinions,” and he welcomed the attention while acknowledging the “positive and the negative and everything in between.”
ABC and Disney
New episodes of season 35 air Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. Jenna said Harry’s aim is to “find joy through dance” and “tell stories,” while Val said he wants to see Dewan grow and reveal herself. That is the standard now: not just cleaner footwork, but whether the show can make seasoned dancers look newly vulnerable under judgment.
