‘Dancing With the Stars’: Tatyana Ali Defends Jan Ravnik’s Blunt Response to Julianne Hough

Jan Ravnik went viral for his response to Julianne Hough‘s skybox question on the October 13 episode of Dancing With the Stars, and he stands by his blunt response to the Season 35 cohost. Ravnik and his celeb partner, Tatyana Ali, were asked about the exchange after the show, and Ali jumped to her partner’s defense as well.

After Ravnik and Ali performed a salsa and were told by the judges to bring more “power” to their next dance, Hough asked Ravnik how he plans to help Ali ramp up the energy next week. He responded, “We have a dance that has no power, so I don’t know.”

When a reporter for The Viall Files jokingly asked Ravnik the same question on the post-show press line, he sighed and replied, “God bless. What kind of question is that? I don’t know!”

Ali then jumped in to explain, “It’s hard to answer questions about next week,” and Ravnik added, “I’m not there yet!” Indeed, at the time when Hough brought up next week’s dance, Ravnik and Ali weren’t even sure if they had made it through this week’s elimination.

“Your whole body, your mind, your spirit, everything, is consumed in this one minute moment,” Ali continued. “So up there, you’re like, ‘What is next week? I don’t even know what day it is.'” Ravnik concluded, “All I’m thinking is, ‘Breathe in, breathe out.’ I’m tired. Don’t ask me anything when I’m up there.”

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Ravnik and Ali did end up making it through to next week’s Dedication Night, so we’ll get to see what Ravnik cooked up when they return to the dance floor. Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson were the couple sent home this week, bringing their Dancing With the Stars journey to an end after weeks of fan support.

Dancing With the Stars, Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+