What to Know
After a bit of a bumpy season, dance pro Val Chmerkovskiy and his celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, have officially been eliminated from Dancing with the Stars season 35. But even though Val’s journey in the competition has come to an end (for now, anyway), Rome, the 3-year-old son he shares with wife Jenna Johnson, isn’t going to let him stay down for long.
Val shared a video of Rome’s reaction to his dad being eliminated from the show, and not only does he offer some valuable advice, but for the son of two very competitive parents, he has such a healthy attitude around winning and losing — especially for a toddler!
Val was eliminated on Grammy Night.
After dancing to Janet Jackson’s “All For You,” Jenna and Val earned a high score, but ultimately, they didn’t get the votes from fans to stick around another week, which meant that they were just shy of making it to the semifinals.
Many fans who were rooting for the pair were shocked to see them go, but Val shared a message on Instagram with Jenna after the episode, thanking fans for their support.
“You’ve been exactly what I imagined. The absolute best!” Val wrote to Jenna in the caption of his video. “Thank you for the opportunity to be by your side through this entire process. I’ll never forget it.”
In a video, Val asked Rome if it was “okay to lose.”
On Wednesday, Val shared a video of himself riding in the car with 3-year-old Rome, who reminded his dad of something very important: He tried his best.
“You gotta learn how to do both,” Val replied. “You gotta learn how to win, you gotta learn how to lose. It’s okay to be sad when you lose, for a little bit.”
Rome reminded his dad of his talent.
Even though Val wasn’t the winner this time around, Rome was sure to remind his dad that it doesn’t mean he’s not good at what he does.
“People want you to win because you’re a great dancer,” Rome told his dad. “[Whether] you win or you lose, you try again on a different day. If you wanna win, you need to move your body and do it so fast and then you win. You get the champion[ship].”
“If you want to win, you need to move your body and do it so fast, and then you win and you’ll be the champion,” Rome said. He’s a very smart boy!
In the end, the father and son agreed that they’re glad they have each other, and Rome reminded his dad, “As long as you try, I love you so much.”
Clearly, Val and Jenna are doing a great job raising this little one. What a sweetheart.
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