Steve Kazee Says He and Val Chmerkovskiy’s Wife Are “Unbothered” by Jenna Dewan’s Dancing with the Stars Chemistry with Val

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By https://thoughtcatalog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-10-41-35-pm.png?w=48 Emily Madriga

Updated 43 minutes ago, October 8, 2026

Steve Kazee defended his fiancée Jenna Dewan after an Instagram blogger questioned her physical closeness with Dancing with the Stars partner Val Chmerkovskiy during their October 6 performance. Dewan, 45, wrapped her leg around Val’s torso while hugging him and placed her hand on his thigh.

Kazee, 50, pushed back in the comments: “Make up your minds. Y’all really got too much time on your hands.” Addressing speculation about how he and Val’s wife, fellow dancer Jenna Johnson, felt about the partnership, he wrote, “The spouses are unbothered.” He added, “Stay hatin’.”

The blogger, @stephwithdadeets, also mispronounced Dewan’s last name. Kazee addressed that in a separate comment: “Also put some respect on my queen’s name and at least pronounce her name correctly when you try to slander her 🤍.”

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba joined the same comment thread to defend the dance partners. “Dancers are physical beings. This is like the way we say hello,” she wrote. “Have some respect for both Jenna and Val and their partners please.”

Kazee and Dewan have been together since 2018 and engaged since 2020. They share 2 children, son Callum and daughter Rhiannon.

His support has been public since Dewan joined the show in September. In a September 30 Instagram tribute, Kazee described the hours of work, bruises, blisters, exhaustion and nerves he’d watched her endure, writing that he “could not be more in awe” of her.

Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee pose together at the 2025 Baby2Baby Gala held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood on November 8, 2025. Photo by Michael Tran / AFP via Getty Images.

He also addressed the criticism surrounding her participation: “She listens, she works, she keeps learning, and she refuses to let any of it steal the joy she has found in doing this.”

Dewan replied, “Omg my heart !! thank you baby😭🥹❤️❤️,” while Val commented, “This ❤️.”

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