Dancing With the Stars' Maks Chmerkovskiy Slams "Absurd" Jan Ravnik Casting

Dancing With the Stars alumni Maks Chmerkovskiy and wife Peta Murgatroyd shared why they think hiring Taylor Swift's backup dancer Jan Ravnik as a pro was "outrageous."

By Gibson Johns Oct 27, 2025 2:27 PM
| Updated Oct 27, 2025 5:43 PM
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Watch: ‘Dancing With the Stars' Maks Chmerkovskiy Slams "Absurd" Jan Ravnik Casting

Maksim Chmerkovskiy has a bone to pick with this Dancing With the Stars move.

The former DWTS pro candidly detailed why he takes issue with the show's decision to hire Taylor Swift's backup dancer Jan Ravnik as a pro for its current 34th season.

"I'm sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing with the Stars," Maks said on the Oct. 24 episode of wife Peta Murgatroyd's The Penthouse With Peta podcast. "There's zero foundation technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I'm getting emotional. It is absurd, and this is unreal how blind we have to be and God forbid say what's obviously there."

And he found Jan and partner Jen Affleck’s Oct. 21 performance during Wicked night to prove is point.

"He had no idea what foxtrot is supposed to look like," Maks continued. "How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different from even ballroom dancing? We had this criticism weeks ago, and I'm like, 'Bro is anybody going to explain it to him?'"

E! News has reached out to ABC and Jan for comment and has yet to hear back.

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Maks went on to note how he was encouraged after Jan delivered "one dance that delivered some sort of direction" but that his momentum went "off the cliff" with his subsequent teachings of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star.

He added that his criticism is less about Jan, 30, himself and more about the decision to hire him in the first place.

"Jan, whoever he is, I have zero against him whatsoever," the 45-year-old said. "No way, this was a missed opportunity."

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Fellow DTWS pro Peta—who most recently competed on season 32—agreed, saying that Jen "has a major disadvantage" in the competition because Jan is the pro guiding her every week.

"I feel bad because she's not getting taught the basics that she needs to," she claimed. "She's not getting taught the base of the dance."

Maks concurred, offering that "it's not Jan's fault" that he doesn't have as much as experience in ballroom dancing as some of the other pros on the cast, which is when Peta alleged that he was only hired because he worked with Taylor on The Eras Tour.

"They hired him. He's a Taylor Swift dancer. It's the obvious reason why he is hired," she said. "Apart from that, he's a lovely guy. He looks great. He obviously is a great dancer. Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous."

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While he didn't "want to name names," Maks clarified that "there were people that had come on that didn't have the expertise, but they immediately integrated different" from Jan.

Meanwhile, Peta suggested that Jan should've joined the show in a different capacity first instead of immediately being made a pro.

"He should have been a part of troupe," she explained. "He should have learned, gone to ballroom classes."

Keep reading for more on this season of DWTS...

Baron Davis

Partnered with Britt Stewart

Jennifer Affleck 

Partnered with Jan Ravnik

Alix Earle 

Partnered with Valentin Chmerkovski

Dylan Efron

Partnered with Daniella Karagach 

Corey Feldman

Partnered with Jenna Johnson

Elaine Hendrix 

Partnered with Alan Bersten

Robert Irwin 

Partnered with Witney Carson

Jordan Chiles 

Partnered with Ezra Sosa

Scott Hoying 

Partnered with Rylee Arnold

Whitney Leavitt

Partnered with Mark Ballas

Hilaria Baldwin

Partnered with Gleb Savchenko 

Andy Richter

Partnered with Emma Slater

Danielle Fishel

Partnered with Pasha Pashkov