Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Val Chmerkovskiy invited Jenna Johnson to play chess for their first date.
The professional dancers met on Dancing with the Stars in 2015 and went on to marry in April 2019, and the 40-year-old star has recalled how a “cordial” invitation to help Jenna settle in on the show led to romance.
Speaking to Extra, Val – who has a three-year-old son, Rome, with Jenna – said: “We met on the show. It’s her first season and they partnered her up with me… I was just being cordial… So, I was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing later? You wanna come over and play chess?’ I was in my chess era.
“She came over. We didn’t play chess.”
Val is proud of how much of a family man he has become and considers his devotion to his loved ones one of his greatest qualities.
Asked what his wife would regard as his best quality, he said: “Probably how much I love my family… my son. You know, that’s a quality that I am most proud of. So, I try to lead with that quality and make that as present as possible.”
For the past five seasons, either Val or Jenna have come first or second with their celebrity partners on DWTS, and though the dancers are proud of one another and very supportive, Val admitted it can make for a stressful environment when both are competing at such a high level.
He said: “I give her the respect that she deserves, you know? She is an incredible professional outside of being Val’s wife and she gives me the support and the space as well to pursue, you know, my excellence to the best of my ability… It’s a beautiful thing.
“But I will say again, so you could imagine how much stress it’s been for the past five seasons, right? The moment of triumph is very short-lived.”
Outside of dancing, Val is embracing the chance to try new things, including stand-up comedy, though he found his first experience performing with a microphone “absolutely terrifying” despite his enthusiasm for the genre.
He said: “Big fan of stand-up. I just was, like, ‘I think I could do that.’ And so, I showed up. I had a little set written, a five, six-minute set, but it was absolutely terrifying.”
