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Val Chmerkovskiy’s time on tour has come to an end. The Dancing With the Stars Season 32 champ has been touring with his wife Jenna Johnson and 1-year-old son Rome since opening night of the 2024 Live Tour. He just finished his last show, however, and is exiting the tour early. Why did Val Chmerkovskiy leave the Dancing With the Stars tour? We have all the details below.
Dancing With the Stars: Live! is an annual tour that brings the best of the ballroom to cities around the U.S. The 64-stop tour kicked off on Jan. 11, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia, and runs through March. Chmerkovskiy performed in the first half of the tour along with his wife and several other pros, including Rylee Arnold, Alan Bersten, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart. Chmerkovskiy’s winning Season 32 partner Xochitl Gomez has also been performing on tour during select dates.
The 2024 tour marks Chmerkovskiy and Johnson’s first tour in four years and their first as parents. The couple, who have been married since 2019, welcomed their son Rome on Jan. 11, 2023. Chmerkovskiy and Johnson opted to bring Rome on the bus with them and have been candid about what it’s been like to tour with a baby. The new parents marked their last show on Feb. 1 in Detroit and are headed back home while the rest of the DWTS family continues on.
Chmerkovskiy reflected on his time on tour in an emotional Instagram post, writing alongside a video of him posing with a group of young fans: “All the fans that have showed up and waited outside after the shows , not just here in Detroit. All of you guys that I’ve exchanged hugs and as much conversation as I could, hearing your stories… I just cannot put into words how grateful I am.” He continued, “Even though my time on this tour is coming to an end, I just cannot thank everyone enough. The support this season, seeing the support on the road, one of the biggest reasons why I came back on tour is the chance to say thank you to all of you in person … for a season I’ll never forget. And for a moment in time that feels so special to me.”
The Mirror Ball champion had previously admitted on Instagram that this past season of DWTS was “easily” one of his favorites so far. He later shared a video of fans reacting to his and Gomez’ win in real time along with a screenshot of his conversation with a fan. “You have no idea how much pure joy this brought me,” he told the girl. “When you do this for so long, you see moments like this come and go, and the period between them grows and you start to ask, will the moment come again … this time felt really really special!”
Neither Chmerkovskiy nor Johnson have shared why they chose to cut their time on the road short, but the 3-month tour can be incredibly grueling on the dancers and especially so with a baby. Johnson opened up about their life on tour in a Jan. 28 Instagram post, revealing that she has “never been more exhausted.” She added: “Waking up at 7am with Rome on the bus, being mommy until I need to start getting ready, finishing the show at 10:30pm, and going to bed on average around 1:30am/2am every night.” While the pro dancer and new mom feels “drained” by the experience, she noted that touring has also brought her “an insane amount of happiness.”
For more on Dancing With the Stars, check out this gallery to see which pros have children.
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