Taylor Swift’s Backup Dancer Getting Backlash On ‘DWTS’
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour backup dancer Jan Ravnik is in his ‘dance pro era’ on “Dancing with the Stars”, partnered with Jen Affleck from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”. But he’s catching some flack from former resident pros (and real-life married couple) Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd. Maksim said, quote, “Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. There’s zero foundation, technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. He had no idea what the foxtrot is supposed to look like. “How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different?” Peta added, quote, “I feel bad, because [Jen’s] not getting taught the basics that she needs to. He’s a Taylor Swift dancer, it’s the obvious reason why he was hired, apart from that, he’s a lovely guy, he looks great, he’s a great dancer . . .”Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous.” They aren’t blaming Jan, per se, but the producers for putting his connection to Taylor above formal training in the decision to hire him.
Jan’s dance partner Jen posted a TikTok in defense of Jan. Quote, “We don’t tolerate Jan slander in this house!!”