There’s a new romance in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom.
In the new issue of Us Weekly, a source exclusively reveals that DWTS pros Alan Bersten and Emma Slater are “hooking up.” The insider notes that the romance is “not new, it’s ongoing” and shares that Bersten, 30, and Slater, 35, are not an out in the open couple.
Fans have been speculating that Bersten and Slater — who was previously married to fellow pro Sasha Farber — might be more than friends. Earlier this month, an X user shared a photo in which the twosome appeared to be holding hands.
Bersten, Slater and Farber, 40, have all been competing on season 33 of DWTS. Slater and her partner, Reginald VelJohnson, were eliminated during episode 3. Farber and partner Jenn Tran were sent home during the Tuesday, October 29, while Bersten and partner Ilona Maher are still in the running for the mirrorball trophy.
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As Slater moves on with Bersten, some fans have speculated that there’s a romance brewing between Farber and Tran, 26 — but the partners have played it coy when discussing their connection.
After some of their fellow contestants chanted for them to kiss after they kept it PG during their Disney Night performance to “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid last week — Farber planted a kiss on Tran’s forehead at the end of the routine — the duo defended their decision not to lock lips.
Alan Bersten, Emma Slater Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images;Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images(2) for Critics Choice Association
“We wanted to do the scene justice and do it the way the movie was,” Tran exclusively told Us after the October 22 episode. “We don’t want to make up stuff that didn’t happen in the movie, that’d be crazy. … They don’t kiss in the end [of the song in the film].”
Farber added that they wanted to keep the dance “elegant.”
When asked about judge Derek Hough’s comment that he ships the pair, Tran diplomatically replied, “I ship [Derek] and Hayley [Erbert], his wife.”
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With both real and rumored romances in the DWTS community, you think it’d be awkward to work on the show alongside your ex-spouse. However, Slater told E! in October 2023 that it’s no problem for her and Farber.
“It’s not a nightmare at all,” she said. “We support each other so much that I want the very best for Sasha. …I’ll help him with his dance, and he’ll help me with my dance.”
L-R) Emma Slater and Alan Bersten. Corine Solberg/Getty Images
That same year, Slater noted during an appearance on the “Viall Files” podcast that “the love actually didn’t go away” after she and Farber separated. She added that their decision to split came down to differing opinions on having children.
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“It’s interesting because I do want to have kids, I just don’t want to delay Sasha’s path in having kids because I know that he is ready for that,” Slater explained. “I don’t want to talk about him too much because that’s really for him to say, but it’s about kids.”
The former couple tied the knot in 2018 and split in 2022. Slater and Farber finalized their divorce in May.
For more on Slater and Bersten, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream episodes on Disney+ the next day.