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Things are heating up on Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, where nine contestants are left competing for a spot on season 35 of DWTS. And while it’s unclear who will take home the title, it seems that Val Chmerkovskiy has some...thoughts about one of the remaining contenders.
During the latest episode of his new Stepping on Toes podcast with Danielle Fishel, the two discussed the DWTS spinoff series, where it was revealed that Val finds AJ Pritchard (who was formerly a pro on Strictly Come Dancing) a bit “arrogant,” particularly toward his partner, Selena Hamilton.
“It makes good TV at his expense. I guess that’s how I want to say it,” Val said of AJ (who, yes, is the brother of Love Island UK star Curtis Prichard). “I wish he wrapped that arrogance into a little softer presentation.”
He continued, “I understand if he’s coming in with this feeling of like…I’m not gonna say entitlement, I don’t want to use that word. But if he comes in with not a chip on his shoulder, but kind of like, ‘What am I even doing here? Why do I have to go through this process if I already know I’m good enough and I already did this.’ I can appreciate that, but dude, then don’t sign up for the show.”
AJ’s résumé is pretty impressive, considering (in addition to his Strictly Come Dancing experience) he got to the semifinals of Britain’s Got Talent back in 2013 and has made several other reality TV appearances, including on I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity MasterChef, The Challenge UK, even RuPaul’s Drag Race UK as a choreographer. But still, Val doesn’t think AJ’s overconfidence is justified.
“We’ve all got pedigree,” he added. “Everyone’s won something. You have to have humility in the sense that you’ve got to prove yourself right now.”
This isn’t the first time AJ has been under extra scrutiny. During the Next Pro premiere, he received some tough criticism from the judges, with Derek Hough telling him, “I think you lacked oomph and a little bit of energy, especially with what the music was giving us.”
Mark Ballas then added, “You’ve done this job before in Strictly, so there’s a little more pressure on you. There’s killers on our show. If you are dancing next to someone like Val Chmerkovskiy, I want to see you fight for it.”
Rooting for you, AJ!
