‘Dancing With the Stars’: Maks Chmerkovskiy Apologizes to Jan Ravnik for Critical Comments

Alyssa Norwin October 30, 2025, 5:54 pm

Maks Chmerkovskiy and Jan Ravnik — Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/Disney/Andrew Eccles

What To Know

Maksim Chmerkovskiy publicly apologized to Jan Ravnik after critiquing Dancing With the Stars for casting him as a pro.
The 17-time cast member also clapped back at critics who pointed out that he’s only won one Mirrorball trophy.
Chmerkovskiy asked Ravnik to meet up for coffee and suggested that they could actually be friends if they bury the hatchet.

Days after Maksim Chmerkovskiy slammed Dancing With the Stars for casting Jan Ravnik as a pro for Season 34, he issued an apology to the rookie cast member.

Chmerkovskiy posted a video apology to Ravnik on Thursday, October 30. “First and foremost, I want to apologize to Jan for the way my words have made you feel, for hurting your feelings. There’s a lot more that I want to say. I would like an opportunity to do it over coffee or any kind of time you have to spare. I’d love to meet, I’d love to talk about this, bury the hatchet. But also, most importantly, I think you’re going to walk away with knowing me, feeling completely different, and, dare I say, we’d probably might even be friends.”

He continued, “To that point, I’m not a friend, regardless of what I say. Maybe it’s paradoxical, but my personality … I love you and I will tell you how it is, let alone if I don’t know you. So my commentary on dance does not come with feelings and emotions; it just comes with a completely different range of reasoning. I’m that guy. So I would like to explain myself. I would like this to be personal because this is crazy to me.”

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Chmerkovskiy came under fire last week after he spoke about Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars on his wife Peta Murgatroyd‘s podcast. Specifically, the couple was discussing the contestants’ Wicked night performances. Murgatroyd pointed out that it’s Ravnik’s first season on the show and that he doesn’t have ballroom dance training, urging viewers to give him “grace” for not understanding the technique of foxtrot, which is the dance he performed with partner Jennifer Affleck that week.

Her husband did not agree. “No, we do not have to give him grace. Are you kidding me?” he said. “I’m sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing with the Stars. There’s zero foundation, technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I’m getting emotional. It is absurd.”

At the time, he reiterated that his comments were not “personal” to Ravnik, who is best known for being one of Taylor Swift‘s Eras tour backup dancers, but said casting him on the show was a “missed opportunity.”

In his video, Chmerkovskiy responded to commenters who have pointed out that he only won one season of Dancing With the Stars during his 17 seasons on the show. “Most are very well aware that every single member of my family has won Dancing With the Stars more than I have,” he admitted. “They are much better at Dancing With the Stars than me. The part of Dancing With the Stars that I was never able to wrestle with and dominate is the public perception, the public opinion, and what people think about me. Fundamentally, I don’t care. I don’t leave with that.”

Why Did Maks Chmerkovskiy Leave 'Dancing With the Stars'? His Exit Explained

Chmerkovskiy left the show after Season 25 and has said in many interviews that he no longer wanted to have to fight for the public’s vote on the show, which he reiterated in his apology video. He also owned up to making “incredible mistakes” with some of his celebrity partners.

“It was [a] horrible situation a few times,” he added. “So it’s not like you’re saying stuff that I don’t already know.”

Javnik and Affleck were eliminated from Dancing With the Stars this week.

Dancing With the Stars, Season 34, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC