Former 'Dancing With the Stars' Pros Slam Jan Ravnik's Casting, Call ABC's Decision 'Absurd'

Jan Ravnik is a first-time pro dancer on Dancing With the Stars this season and his casting is not sitting well with some former pros.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd, who are married in real life, spoke out to slam Jan‘s casting, saying that he has “absolutely no business being a pro.”

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The comments were made on a recent episode of Peta‘s podcast The Penthouse with Peta.

“I’m sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing with the Stars,” Maks said. “There’s zero foundation technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I’m getting emotional.”

“It is absurd, and this is unreal how blind we have to be and God forbid say what’s obviously there,” he added of the producers and ABC’s decision to cast the dancer.

Maks slammed the routine that Jan choreographed for Wicked night last week, saying, “He had no idea what foxtrot is supposed to look like. How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different from even ballroom dancing? We had this criticism weeks ago, and I’m like, ‘Bro, is anybody going to explain it to him?’”

Maks doesn’t think that Jan is a bad person, he just doesn’t think he’s qualified for the show.

“Jan, whoever he is, I have zero against him whatsoever. No way, this was a missed opportunity,” he said (via Page Six).

Peta agreed with him, adding that she thinks he was only hired because of his connection to Taylor Swift. He was recently a dancer on the Eras Tour.

“I feel bad because [Jen Affleck]’s not getting taught the basics that she needs to,” she said. “She’s not getting taught the base of the dance.”

“They hired him. He’s a Taylor Swift dancer. It’s the obvious reason why he is hired,” she added. “Apart from that, he’s a lovely guy. He looks great. He obviously is a great dancer. Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous.”

Peta has also slammed the show for its scoring system this year.