Former ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro Says Newcomer Has ‘No Business’ on Show

Dancing With the Stars alum Maks Chmerkovskiy has strong feelings about the ABC dance competition’s newest pro, Jan Ravnik.

Chmerkovskiy sparked discussion among Dancing With the Stars fans during a conversation with his wife, fellow former pro Peta Murgatroyd, on her The Penthouse With Peta podcast Friday.

During the podcast appearance, Chmerkovskiy said Ravnik has “no business” being a pro on Season 34, on which he is paired with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck.

“I’m sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing With the Stars,” Chmerkovskiy said during the episode. “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.”

Chmerkovskiy, who won the Mirrorball Trophy in 2014, went on to argue that Ravnik had “no idea” what the foxtrot entailed after watching him dance with Affleck on Wicked Night for a score of 32 out of 40.

“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?’” Chmerkovskiy continued.

Murgatroyd, who has won the Mirrorball Trophy twice, agreed that she “did not love the foxtrot elements” that Ravnik included in the performance, “because it just didn’t hit the technique” in her opinion, but she did praise the “beautiful partnership and partner work” in the routine.

“He’s learning,” Murgatroyd continued of the first-time Dancing With the Stars pro. “He’s learning slowly. It’s his first season, we have to give him grace for not understanding foxtrot technique.”

Chmerkovskiy didn’t feel the same way, saying that he had watched Ravnik choreograph “one dance that delivered some sort of direction” before things went “off the cliff.”

The former pro insisted he had no personal beef with Ravnik, but called his casting a “missed opportunity” that put Affleck at a disadvantage in the competition.

Prior to his casting on Dancing With the Stars, Ravnik performed alongside Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour, which Murgatroyd noted made for an “obvious” choice in bringing him onto the ABC show.

“Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous,” she continued, adding that apart from the ballroom technique, Ravnik is a “lovely guy” and a “great dancer.”

Murgatroyd added that the troupe would have been a better place for Ravnik to start on the show. “He should’ve learned, gone to ballroom classes,” she said. “Look, what I would do if I were him — and I don’t know what he’s doing behind the scenes, let’s be honest. … But I would do my four hours in the studio, whatever I needed to do, and then I would take [Jen] for another four hours and go elsewhere.”