Alan Bersten Steps in for Maks Chmerkovskiy on 'DWTS' as the Pro Deals With a 'Personal Issue'

Bersten came back after his elimination last week to dance with Vanessa Lachey.

Alan Bersten returned to the Dancing With the Stars stage on Monday after he and his celebrity partner, Debbie Gibson, got eliminated last week.

The 23-year-old dancer, who served as a DWTS pro for the first time this season, returned to doing what he seems to love best: filling in for Maks Chmerkovskiy.

Bersten took the stage with Vanessa Lachey for the show's "Guilty Pleasures" week, and it turns out that Lachey's guilty pleasure is shopping. So the two performed a well-received jazz number set to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," that featured some support from a few of the DWTS troupe dancers.

The judges loved the fun spirit and style of the dance and the pair earned a score of 23 out of 30 for their performance. The score put them in a tie with Drew Scott and Emma Slater for third place this week.  

As for Chmerkovskiy, his absence was acknowledged by Erin Andrews at the start of the show, following Tom Bergeron's somber tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and the show's opening number.

"Maks is dealing with a personal issue, so Alan is stepping in and dancing with Vanessa tonight," Andrews said. However, no further information was shared.

In a pre-taped package before their performance, Lachey spent the week rehearsing with Bersten instead of Chmerkovskiy, and the pair didn't address his absence after their dance.

ET reached out to Chmerkovskiy's rep, who said that there are "no further details" regarding his absence at this time.

After the show, his younger brother and fellow DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy shared a series of videos to his Instagram story, showing him and his older brother having a family dinner with their parents at Traktir restaurant in West Hollywood.

They were joined by Maks' wife, Peta Murgatroyd, and Val's girlfriend, Jenna Johnson. From the brief glimpse at their get-together, Maks appeared to be in good spirits.

Val Chmerkovskiy/Instagram

On Sunday, Val took to Instagram to share a smiling snapshot of the handsome siblings, along with a message of love, writing, "The roof that kept me dry and when I asked to fly you took me underneath your wing and flew against the wind so high." #familyovereverything."

The quote is a line from a poem Val wrote to his brother for his birthday in January, though it's unclear whether or not the supportive message was related to the "personal issue" Maks is dealing with. 

Dancing With the Stars returns next Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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