Gleb Savchenko Responds After Maura Higgins Says She Refuses to Partner with Him on “Dancing with the Stars”
Gleb Savchenko said it is “disappointing to be judged based on a one-sided version of events rather than the facts”
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NEED TO KNOW
- Gleb Savchenko responded about Maura Higgins said she doesn’t want to partner with him on Dancing with the Stars
- Higgins said in May that she doesn’t “want to spend all my time with someone like that,” pointing to his past with her friend Brooks Nader
- “It’s disappointing to be judged based on a one-sided version of events rather than the facts,” Savchenko said in a statement
Maura Higgins doesn’t want to tango with Gleb Savchenko.
The Traitors alum, 35, will compete on Dancing with the Stars this fall, and she said in a May interview with E! News that she isn’t interested in partnering with Savchenko, 42, due to his past with her friend Brooks Nader.
The DWTS pro responded in a statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Aug. 4. “Until I was asked to comment on this story, I’d genuinely never heard of Maura, so I was quite surprised to learn she’d spoken about me so negatively,” he said. “We’ve never met, and she doesn’t know me personally, so it’s disappointing to be judged based on a one-sided version of events rather than the facts.“
PEOPLE reached out to reps for Higgins and DWTS for comment.
Credit: GC Images
Savchenko’s statement comes nearly two months after Higgins’ interview with E! News, during which she was asked what she’d want in a potential pro partner for season 35.
“I’d be happy with anyone except Gleb,” she said at the time. “That’s only because I’m loyal and I’m friends with Brooks.”
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Savchenko and Nader, 29, partnered up for the show’s 33rd season in 2024. The pair sparked romance rumors during the show, split that October when Savchenko sent Nader a cryptic breakup text, and a source later told PEOPLE in April 2025 that Nader suspected he cheated on her and called things off. Savchenko has denied the allegations.
“I don’t really like the way he speaks about women,” Higgins said of Savchenko in May. “I don’t really want to spend all my time with someone like that. I’m like, no thank you.”
Higgins is boarding DWTS this season alongside fellow reality star Ciara Miller, Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson, and Jimmy Kimmel’s comedy partner Guillermo Rodriguez. The remaining celebrity contestants will be unveiled on Good Morning America on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
While speaking with PEOPLE about a recent partnership with Wingstop in June, Higgins said fellow Traitors competitor and DWTS pro Mark Ballas gave her the inside scoop on the competition series.
“Mark had said to me, ‘It’s literally a marathon,’ and he was like, ‘It’s intense,’” she said. “I’ve never done anything like that. So I was like, oh, maybe I should relax before I go into training.”
For her approach this season, Higgins said she’s “just going to try my best” and, “I’m just going to bring my own flavor to it and bring my personality and my charisma and try my best because I have two left feet, honestly.”
Dancing with the Stars season 35 premieres with a two-night event starting Tuesday, Sept. 15, on ABC and Disney+. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
