EXCLUSIVE: Paige VanZant Addresses Rumored Romance with 'DWTS' Pro Alan Bersten: I Don't 'Kiss and Tell'
For the Dancing With the Stars semi-finals on Monday, Paige VanZant and her partner, Mark Ballas, had to choose a third DWTS pro to join them for a trio dance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, so they went with VanZant's rumored love interest, Alan Bersten.
During the pre-recorded package played before the threesome's sexy samba, producers put VanZant and Bersten in the hot seat, asking them point blank about speculation that they're dating, which they both denied with nervous laughter.
VanZant and Ballas spoke with ET's Lauren Zima after the show, where the 22-year-old UFC fighter got coy about her relationship with the DWTS troupe member.
"Who knows!" VanZant said, laughing. "A girl does not kiss and tell!"
VanZant went on to add that she is "definitely single right now." This was also what she claimed in the pretaped segment, where she evasively said, "Me and Alan are friends, but right now I'm a little preoccupied with the competition. I want to make it all the way, and we're so close."
After the show,DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy addressed VanZant's bashful pretaped segment, jokingly calling it "the three most awkward minutes in television history."
"I guess I played the role of a peacock on the show before," Chmerkovskiy said, referring to a number of rumored romances with DWTS contestants that he's been linked to in the past. "I'm very glad I grew out of that."
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The 30-year-old DWTS veteran addressed the somewhat inevitable existence of "showmances," admitting that sometimes people who spend weeks dancing together sometimes find a love connection.
"Are there relationships that spring up during this process? Of course. You go through such an incredible journey together. If the vibe is right in that sense, why not?" Chmerkovskiy explained. "Things happen, but I think your job is your job and you should have certain ethics and morals and act accordingly. I have not done so in the past."
“I have been much better now and I'm just really looking from the side and tsk tsking Alan right now," he added with a laugh. "He's young and he'll learn and good for him. Good for you Alan!"
During the DWTS after-party, VanZant and Bersten were spotted hanging out and the two seemed to stay close for most of the night, alongwith Ballas and his fiance, BC Jean.
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VanZant, Bersten and Ballas' trio dance was a samba set to "Hip Hip Chin Chin" by Club Des Belugas in which VanZant played a seductive bird being courted by two male peacocks who are fighting over her. The performance was praised by the judges and earned VanZant a perfect score of 30 out of 30.
After scoring a 29 for her second dance of the night -- a sexy, striptease-style Argentine tango with only Ballas -- VanZant was near the top of the leader board with a combined score of 59 out of 60. She ended up moving on to the finals, alongside deaf model Nyle DiMarco and GMA weather anchor Ginger Zee, while Boyz II Men's Wanya Morris and NFL star Antonio Brown were eliminated.
For more on VanZant's supposed romance with the DWTS pro, check out the video below.
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