NEW YORK — Pro Val Chmerkovskiy will return to the dance floor next Tuesday after his one-week suspension for a social media post responding to a judge’s comments on his fellow-pro wife’s moves on “Dancing with the Stars.”

He was back in rehearsals as of Wednesday after BBC Studios, which produces the show, benched him for invoking the infamous moment when actor Will Smith slapped Oscars host Chris Rock across the face after the comedian’s joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” Chmerkovskiy quipped on TikTok after judge Carrie Ann Inaba penalized Jenna Johnson for an illegal lift in her samba with Harry Shum Jr. during the Oct. 13 show. That and other criticisms reduced Johnson to tears backstage, according to reports.

He quickly deleted the Smith comment and apologized to Inaba, who was taken aback after seeing screenshots. Fans were also offended.

At first, rumors swirled that the longtime judge had complained to HR, but People confirmed that the producers took action as soon as they saw Chmerkovskiy’s post, not because of a formal HR complaint.

Chmerkovskiy’s partner for the season, a seemingly unfazed Jenna Dewan, danced a Viennese waltz with pro Alan Bersten, earning her best scores yet.

“I learned this early on in life, but also especially in our business, that the show must go on,” Dewan told “Good Morning America” afterward, with a nod to her starring role in the dance movie “Step Up.” “Sometimes unexpected things happen and you have to pivot, and then your job is to make the best of that. Your mental game is what you’re in control of, and I walked in and Alan was just… he really stepped up… Step up!”

Chmerkovskiy thanked Bersten and dubbed the dance “perfection” in a comment on the “Dancing with the Stars” Instagram post showcasing the pair.

Neither Dewan nor Bersten commented on the suspension before the dance, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and they did not mention Chmerkovskiy during their video prelude. At the top of the evening, co-host Alfonso Ribeiro simply noted, “Val is not with us this week.”

©2026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.