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Jenna Dewan is honoring her mom, Nancy Smith, ahead of Dancing With the Stars’ Dedication Night.
“I’ve been thinking so much on all the things my mom has taught me throughout my life. Not just in what she’s said, but in the way she’s lived and the example she’s always been for me,” Dewan, 45, wrote the mother-daughter duo through the years. “To lead with kindness. To give people grace. To be strong without losing your softness. To keep your heart open, even when life doesn’t go quite the way you imagined.”
She continued, “My mom has always been my biggest cheerleader. The one who believed in me before I even knew what was possible for myself. Who encouraged me to dream big, to keep going, and most importantly, to never lose sight of who I am along the way. And now, all these years and so many chapters of life later, I get to dedicate a dance to her this Tuesday. 🥹❤️.”
Dewan called the moment on DWTS “so beautiful and full circle” to honor her mom, who encouraged her “love of dance.”
“As life goes on, the more I realize that some of the greatest gifts our parents give us aren’t things at all. They’re the values we carry, the love we pass on, and the way we choose to show up in this world,” she wrote. “And I hope more than anything that I make her proud! Not necessarily through what i do in life, but in the person I am and the way I move through life.”
Dewan concluded, “Love you so much mom!! This one’s for you❤️.”
The Rookie star is set to perform a Viennese waltz during the Tuesday, October 20, episode with pro Alan Bersten, who is stepping in for her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, after his suspension from the show. Chmerkovskiy, 40, recently faced backlash after fiercely defending wife Jenna Johnson, who had a tense exchange with judge Carrie Ann Inaba over whether she featured an illegal lift in her dance with Harry Shum Jr.
In a since-deleted TikTok, Chmerkovskiy appeared to reference Will Smith infamously slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars and telling the comedian to “keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.” Chmerkovskiy publicly apologized to Inaba, 58, before sharing a separate statement after news broke of his suspension.
Deal of the Day
“In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention,” Chmerkovskiy wrote in a statement shared with Us. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
He continued, “The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in. Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
