Gleb Savchenko turned the “unemployed professional hater” insult into a TikTok punch line, sipping a cocktail and scrolling through his phone after criticizing fellow Dancing With the Stars pro Alan Bersten.
“POV: Another day of being an ‘unemployed professional hater,’” Savchenko, 43, wrote over the video. His caption added: “Constructive criticism about dance technique.. never personal.”
The dispute centered on Bersten, 32, filling in for Jenna Dewan’s regular partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, during Dedication Night. Chmerkovskiy had received a 1-week suspension over comments about judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Savchenko questioned the choice of replacement.
In an earlier October TikTok livestream, Savchenko said of Bersten: “He’s a good dancer, I guess, for TV but if we talk about art? Like, creating art? He’s like, eh.” He also criticized Bersten’s technique and quality of dancing.
Savchenko later defended those remarks in another livestream. “I didn’t attack Alan at all,” he said. “Alan’s a good dancer for his niche. He’s great for his thing. But he can’t be compared to Val.”
He added: “I’m not talking trash, I’m just saying how it is.”
Savchenko’s own absence from season 35 gives the “unemployed” jab its context. He last competed with Hilaria Baldwin in season 34, and described his time away in September as “a little break, a little hiatus, a little reset.”
He also joked about a different route back to the ballroom: “I’m not retired from Dancing With the Stars. I’m coming back as a celebrity to win it.”