• Former Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy made headlines last week after he criticized new pro, Jan Ravnik.
  • During the DWTS TikTok livestream, Rylee Arnold and Jan appeared to bond over both being criticized by Maksim.
  • Jan responded to Maksim’s comments in a post-show interview.

At this point in Dancing With the Stars season 34, they should really consider forming a support group for pros who have felt personally attacked by Maksim Chmerkovskiy. During Tuesday night’s live show, pros Rylee Arnold and Jan Ravnik appeared to bond over being criticized by Maks, and it was as shady as it was heartwarming.

Rylee, who was eliminated last week with her partner Scott Hoying, and Jan, who was eliminated on Tuesday with Jen Affleck, shared a moment backstage captured by the DWTS behind-the-scenes livestream hosted by Rylee and Brandon Armstrong. They stopped Jan backstage before his performance and asked about his TikTok livestreams.

“Your lives have become iconic. You’re very famous on social media for basically saying whatever you want,” Brandon said, calling Jan’s live streams “unhinged.”

Without missing a beat, Jan looked into the camera and said, “But there’s no hate in my TikToks. I’m not like some other people.” And though he didn’t name names, some fans thought he was making a jab at Maksim, who made headlines this week when he said that Jan “has no business being a pro on Dancing With the Stars.”

Brandon seemed a bit confused, but Rylee immediately got the reference. “It’s okay,” she said, putting a comforting hand on Jan’s shoulder. “We can do it together.” (For context: Maksim also recently criticized Rylee’s performance as a pro on this season, calling her partner Scott “under-taught.”)

Jan addressed the controversy again after the live show. He told Entertainment Tonight that he had “no comment” on Maksim’s claims that he didn’t have enough ballroom training to be an effective pro on DWTS, and he instead spoke about the support he’s received from his friends and colleagues.

“I got all the love on this show—all the pros, from the judges also. Everyone gave me so much love,” Jan said. “Whoever is...outside, trying to stay relevant and spreading the hate—this is not the way to do it. And I never will spread or take the hate.”