BBC Studios said on Saturday, 17 October 2026, that Val Chmerkovskiy, a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, will not appear in the next episode of the ABC show. The reason given is a social-media post, later deleted. The measure is a one-episode suspension — Dedication Night, Tuesday 20 October — not a firing. The company did not say his contract was ended.

“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.” Fox News quotes ABC as saying this is the first known suspension of a professional dancer in the show’s history. That claim is the network’s, not a separate published rulebook.

The context is the Tuesday 13 October episode, Super Bowl Night. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticised Jenna Johnson — Chmerkovskiy’s wife since 2019 and herself a pro on the floor — for a lift in a samba with actor Harry Shum Jr., and read the definition of the move. The dancer posted to TikTok, then deleted: “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” The line was read, including by NBC News, as a nod to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars after a remark about his wife. It is not an assault in the studio. It is a deleted text, read that way.

On Thursday, before the BBC announcement, Chmerkovskiy apologised in public and said he had spoken to Inaba directly. On Saturday, after the suspension, he wrote on Instagram that his instinct had been to defend his wife and that he chose a meme poorly in order to keep “my wife’s name” out of the conversation, without thinking through what else the reference could imply. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle.” He added that he did not want to overshadow the work of his celebrity partner, actress Jenna Dewan, and that he would watch Dedication Night from home.

In his place, Dewan dances with Alan Bersten, a pro eliminated in week two with Giada De Laurentiis. The number is dedicated to Dewan’s mother, according to NBC and Fox. As of the Saturday reports, Inaba had not responded in public to the apology or the suspension.

Chmerkovskiy has been on the show since season two. Dewan remains his celebrity partner; Johnson remains in the contest with Shum. Missing one episode is not an expulsion from the season. Until Tuesday’s broadcast, the closed facts are the BBC Studios statement, his apology and the one-night replacement. These sources do not record a firing.

Image: Alameda entrance to Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, 11 July 2016, Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The studio lot, not the show’s ballroom.

Sources consulted: Val Chmerkovskiy suspended from Dancing with the Stars after Will Smith Oscars slap reference — Fox News; Val Chmerkovskiy gets one-week suspension on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ — NBC News; ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pulls Val Chmerkovskiy After ‘Inappropriate’ Carrie Ann Inaba Slap Joke — Variety.