“I can be annoyed and bitter and upset about this, or I can show up with grace and love and joy and focus on the moment,’” Dewan said of her pro partner’s suspension

NEED TO KNOW

• Jenna Dewan says she chose to move on from Val Chmerkovskiy’s one-week suspension from Dancing with the Stars with “grace”
• “I can be annoyed and bitter and upset about this, or I can show up with grace and love and joy and focus on the moment,” Dewan said of her pro partner’s suspension
• Chmerkovskiy was suspended following his comments toward judge Carrie Ann Inaba after she critiqued his wife, Jenna Johnson, during the Oct. 13 episode of DWTS

Jenna Dewan says she chose to move on from Val Chmerkovskiy’s one-week suspension from Dancing with the Stars with “grace.”

Speaking with Women’s Health for an interview published on Friday, Nov. 13, The Rookie star, 45, shared how Chmerkovskiy’s suspension impacted her run — and reflected on her shocking elimination on Grammy Night.

“I said this, and I really mean this, that I did not foresee having as many challenges as I did that were thrown at me during my Dancing with the Stars journey,” Dewan said.

“However, the challenges of it gave me an opportunity to walk my talk, and I always think that when that happens, you can go back to your true north, to what’s your intention for doing something. How do you want to show up as a human when you’re experiencing challenges?” she continued, sharing that she thought of her kids — including daughter Everly, whom she shares with ex-husband Channing Tatum, and son Callum and daughter Rhiannon, whom she shares with fiancé Steve Kazee.

“When the mid-season suspension happened, and all these things were going on, I thought, ‘I have a real opportunity here. I can be annoyed and bitter and upset about this, or I can show up with grace and love and joy and focus on the moment,’ ” Dewan added.

Chmerkovskiy, 40, was suspended for the comments toward judge Carrie Ann Inaba after she critiqued his wife, Jenna Johnson, during the Oct. 13 episode of DWTS.

While Chmerkovskiy was sidelined, fellow pro Alan Bersten — who was eliminated earlier this season alongside his celebrity partner, Giada De Laurentiis — stepped in to perform alongside Dewan for her “Dedication Night” routine.

Dewan opted not to focus on the drama surrounding the performance and instead worked to make it about her mother, Nancy.

“That particular week was about my mom and my dedication to her. And she was in town, thrilled to have this dance with me, and thrilled to experience this moment. And I thought that this is something she’s going to remember. We’re all going to remember my family forever,” she told Women’s Health. “Let’s focus on that, and let’s not worry about all of this that’s going on.”

Bersten, 32, and Dewan performed a Viennese waltz to the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.”

“Thank you for stepping in and doing such an amazing job,” Chmerkovskiy later wrote to Bersten on Instagram. “Jenna looks so good and most importantly happy.”

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Dewan and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated on Nov. 10, after performing a jazz routine set to Janet Jackson’s “All For You” due to a combination of scores and viewer votes.

Co-host Julianne Hough described the result as “shocking, to say the least.”

“Honestly, dancing again, getting to share my joy with my family, over here every single night, thank you my baby, thank you,” Dewan said as she looked at Kazee and daughter Everly in the audience.

Speaking with Women’s Health, Dewan shared that leaving the show felt like a “light switch [going] off” due to how “physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually intense” it is.

“I feel all kinds of things,” she said, days after her elimination. “I feel mostly proud. I feel really proud of myself, and I feel proud of the last dance we gave on the ballroom floor, and I feel obviously sad that it’s over, that I don’t get to give any more dances out there and create any more special pieces. So I think it’s really both.”

“I feel really proud of us, and I feel fulfilled, and I feel filled up, and I also feel sad that the journey of creating dances is over,” she added.

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