Val Chmerkovskiy's positive COVID test this week caused a shake-up on Dancing with the Stars, but his partner Gabby Windey claims the obstacle really helped her out as a contestant.
The recently engaged Bachelorette alum was asked how it felt to dance with new partner Alan Bersten on Monday night for the Halloween Spooktacular, and she gave glowing praises of the demanding yet gratifying experience.
Oh, tell them what a success it was! After the show, Bersten, 28, made a joke.
Windey, 31, said of her replacement, Alan, who shared the prestigious Mirror Ball trophy with another former Bachelorette Hannah Brown in 2019, "I feel like I couldn't have asked for anybody finer to step in for Val." Alan is a terrific partner, teacher, and performer.
The couple performed a fan-favorite Argentine Tango to a remix of Ed Sheeran's "Shivers" by District 78 featuring Mikayla Lynn, achieving a nearly perfect score of 38 out of 40 from the judges while dressed as seductive vampires for week 7's Halloween theme.
"Dancing with Alan this week definitely improved me as a dancer, and I feel like we overcame a lot of obstacles and still prevailed, so it feels fantastic," she said.
Windey said she was "terrified" that she would test positive as well and be required to miss a week or longer when Chmerkovskiy, 36, called the reality TV star to break the news. Fortunately, it wasn't the situation.
In the event that this scenario materialised, a bye week was provided, but Windey declined to take it. We had been anticipating Halloween for a very long time, and I'm sure everyone felt the atmosphere. As a result, I was terrified and thankful to be positive.
Naturally, Chmerkovskiy tuned in to support his partner and his friend, who were dancing to his own choreography, despite the fact that his COVID symptoms had been "quite minor."
He enjoyed it, Bersten stated. "Gabby performed an absolutely fantastic job. She excelled despite the fact that changing partners there is not easy.
Gabby Windey claims that her fiancé Erich Schwer is seeing "a Different Side of Me" on DWTS.
Windey expressed on Instagram how amazing it was to dance with Chmerkovskiy following their rumba the week before the COVID break.
On a week six Instagram video upload, she stated, "I could perform this dance 100 times." The rumba was surprisingly challenging, but with @valentin's guidance, patience, and inventiveness, it was a pleasure to perform. He has officially made me addicted to the narcotic that is ballroom dancing.
Regarding the events of next week, Windey stated that they are still unsure of the partner plan and are taking things "day by day," despite the fact that Chmerkovskiy assured fans when he revealed his COVID status that he would "be back next week" and that he felt "fine."
The Ukrainian star expressed his disappointment, saying, "This is a major bummer." I regret having let some folks down, and I was eagerly anticipating this week's routine with Halloween and Argentine Tango.
Regarding his confidence in his partner, he said, "I truly enjoy this routine but the nice thing is Gabby knows it. "I'll be back next week," I said, "because Gabby is prepared, Alan is going to do a fantastic job, and you guys are going to vote us through."
Fortunately, Bersten was up for the task.
For this week, he said, "I joined in so late that it was just study it and do it." Val was outstanding. both as a choreographer and a dancer. The routine was undoubtedly fantastic. All of it was Val. Since Val is someone I've always admired, I tried to emulate his dance.
