Dancing With the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko is ready to spill the tea about his experience in the ballroom.
While celebrating his status as Chippendales’ celebrity guest host, the professional dancer looked back on his 11 seasons competing on ABC’s reality show. When asked to share his favorite dance, Savchenko, 40, quickly thought of a steamy number.
“My favorite dance that I’ve done on Dancing With the Stars has got to be the shower dance with Jana Kramer, which was absolutely incredible,” he exclusively shared with Us Weekly. “[It was the] Argentine Tango and actually, the secret is that it worked perfectly on the day, on a live show.”
Savchenko continued, “Before, we were slipping. We were falling. It was crazy. The water would not come on and it was too cold. But on the day, it was perfect. We got a perfect score.”
Kramer, 40, and Savchenko competed on season 23 in 2016. While they briefly butted heads during some rehearsals, the pair made it all the way to the finals and came in 4th place.
Another partner Savchenko won’t forget is his experience dancing with Vanderpump Rules star Lisa Vanderpump. Although they were the second couple to be eliminated from season 16 in 2013, the dancer still remembers some of the unique rehearsals he experienced with his partner.
“I think the most challenging was Lisa,” he told Us while laughing. “I’m sorry, but I got to call you out. Lisa Vanderpump did not really want to practice that much. She wanted to practice in her bathroom in her house where she had a massive, huge tile floor where we were just waltzing around.”
To this day, Savchenko remains close with many of his past celebrity partners including Vanderpump, 63, Nikki Glaser and Erika Jayne. He still remembers Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause smelling the best.
There’s also the historic season when Savchenko was able to partner up with Shangela and become the dancing competition’s first-ever all-male pair.
“The dance partner that surprised me the most was hands down Shangla,” Savchenko shared with Us. “It was one of my favorite seasons that I’ve done. And also dancing with a guy and doing incredible routines and actually connecting so well and making the final. Me going full drag? That was awesome.”
In between DWTS seasons, Savchenko was able to use his dancing skills in July while performing with the Chippendales at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. The experience is one he won’t soon forget.
“I actually gained a lot of confidence,” he told Us. “I told a few of my friends, ‘If I can do Chippendales and do that, you can do anything.’ It’s a lot of fun. It’s a Broadway show with sexy boys.”
Dancing With the Stars returns to ABC on Tuesday, September 17. The cast of professional dancers and celebrity contestants has yet to be revealed.
Reporting by Christina Garibaldi
