Gleb Savchenko on 'Dancing with the Stars' tiff with Len Goodman: He should spend more time with us rather than in England

Gleb Savchenko might be replacing Maksim Chmerkovskiy as the "bad boy of the ballroom" after his tiff with judge Len Goodman during Monday night's live Dancing with the Stars broadcast.


After Savchenko performed a fun and quirky 1970s samba for "Eras Night" with his celebrity partner Jana Kramer, Goodman criticized the routine for its lack of samba content, which was feedback the Dancing with the Stars pro clearly disagreed with.

"I think Len should spend more time with us rather than in England," Savchenko griped to People after the show, referring to Goodman's multiple absences from DWTS in order to judge the British reality TV show Strictly Come Dancing.

Although Goodman scored Savchenko and Kramer a solid 8, the judge explained last night, "It needed more samba content in there. There was so much larking about. You know it's the truth, Gleb."

Savchenko then proudly rattled off a list of samba moves he had choreographed in the routine, to which Goodman responded, "I saw what you did. I know what you did... Don't get me started, Gleb. You just listen to what I'm telling you and get on with it."


In a subsequent backstage interview with DWTS co-host Erin Andrews, Savchenko made a controversial comment that appeared to make even Kramer feel a little uncomfortable.

"I think we have to mix it up a little because it's not a dance competition, it's a TV show," Savchenko said, which prompted Goodman to tell his fellow judges in the ballroom -- although the footage was not shown on television -- that Savchenko was wrong.

"No. It's a dance competition," Goodman noted, according to People.

Savchenko did concede that Goodman had made a couple of good points, but the pro partner stood by his mix of traditional samba choreography with some fun and flirty 70s steps.

"When you've been given a special theme for a dance, you want to incorporate some of those moves," Savchenko told the magazine. "You have to kind of let people see what it is. That's why we have the costumes and wigs and everything."


He added there is a "fine balance" between "a show number and just a samba."

"No one wants to see a minute and forty seconds of just samba," Savchenko continued, "especially when you're dealing with someone who's never danced before. Jana did an amazing job and I'm so proud of her. She killed it."

Savchenko and the country music singer tied for third place with two other couples on the judges' leaderboard last night on Dancing with the Stars.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski