“We’re a show that creates union and brings people together.”

Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy wants ‘less politicians’ competing on the show

"We’re a show that creates union and brings people together."

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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April 27, 2026 1:53 p.m. ET

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Val Chmerkovskiy; former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Credit:

Leon Bennett/Getty; Eric McCandless via Getty

- *Dancing With the Stars* pro Val Chmerkovskiy is revealing his one casting wish for the future of the show.

- The three-time champ explains why he wants "less politicians" competing for the Mirror Ball Trophy.

- Previous contestants from the political sphere include former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.

*Dancing With the Stars* pro Val Chmerkovskiy is sharing his one casting wish for future seasons of the competition series.

"Less politicians," Chmerkovskiy told *Us Weekly* while attending the iHeartPodcast “I Choose Me” live summit on Saturday.

Explaining his reasoning, the three-time DWTS champion continued: "One of the things I admire about our show, I love being a part of the fact that in a world quite literally designed to split us all apart and create agony amongst people, we’re a show that creates union and brings people together. Yes, it’s just a dance show, but it’s way more than just a dance show.”

Chmerkovskiy added: "Dance is just a vehicle to bring people together — of all ages, all political sides. No one knows who’s voting for who, and we’re all just enjoying ourselves and enjoying two hours a week of just good family fun.”

Val Chmerkovskiy in February, 2025.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Chmerkovskiy himself has yet to be partnered with someone in the political sphere, but *DWTS* has welcomed plenty of controversial politicians and others of their ilk to participate in the competition. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry competed for the Mirror Ball Trophy in 2016's season 23. A decade prior, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was the first contestant eliminated in the show's third season, which aired in 2006. Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay competed as well, in the show's ninth season.

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Perhaps the most controversial politician to take to the *DWTS* dance floor was former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, a Trump administration alum whose 2019 casting sparked major backlash. When asked about the controversy after filming the show, Spicer expressed hope that viewers would "put policy and politics aside" to watch him cha-cha-cha across their screens.

Chmerkovskiy's opposition to political figures is a stance shared by the show's longtime host Tom Bergeron, who departed *DWTS* in 2020 after 15 years with the show. He later shared that his departure was due to disagreement with executives over Spicer's casting and the direction of the show.

Bergeron detailed the disagreement three years later during a visit to *DWTS* pro Cheryl Burke's podcast, *Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans*, claiming that he sought a compromise after producers made it clear they were determined to have Spicer on the show, and suggested that he "take the season off." Bergeron said the execs then countered with their offer to let him out of his contract.

Sean Spicer on 'DWTS' in 2019.

Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty

"That's how strongly they felt," Bergeron said, adding that it "really pissed me off."

After the casting was officially announced, Bergeron penned a lengthy, coded statement — without naming Spicer directly — blasting the hit show's execs for steering it away from being a "joyful respite from our exhausting political climate" free of "inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations."

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As for Chmerkovskiy, he didn't seem too bothered at the time, telling PEOPLE, "The thing that makes our show unique and wild and crazy and entertaining is the fact that it’s a collective of all these different people. And you don’t have to agree or follow all these people."

Chmerkovskiy then clarified that he did "understand the outrage," but added, "At the same time, you know, there are bigger problems in the world besides Sean Spicer being humiliated doing the cha-cha."

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