Val Chmerkovskiy treasured the 20 minutes a day he got to speak with wife Jenna Johnson while filming Hulu’s Got to Get Out.
“It affected me vastly. We had access to the phone for 20 minutes a day for just emergency purposes. It only took 10 days to film but it felt like a year,” Chmerkovskiy, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly about the competition series, which is currently streaming. “It was hard. But that 20 minutes was great. I got to really vent.”
Chmerkovskiy recalled trying to break down the rules — to interesting results. According to the professional dancer, even though he was able to speak to his wife about what the “experience was like,” she “had so many questions.”
Got to Get Out follows a mix of reality TV contestants and non-celebrities living together in a mansion for 10 days while they compete in physical and mental challenges for $1 million in prize money. After walking away with the Mirrorball three times on Dancing With the Stars, the self-proclaimed “winner” enjoys similar success on the new Hulu series.
“I quickly realized that I am a rookie when it comes to reality TV shows,” Chmerkovskiy admitted about his initial days on the show. “I never have to form alliances on Dancing With the Stars. I don’t have to have crazy confrontations at the dinner table. I had experience with confrontation but not like this show. I was in over my head for the first three days. I was under the impression that I was going to get out quickly — whether I was going to get out and take the money or I was going to attempt an escape and get eliminated again.”
Chmerkovskiy adapted once he got “immersed” in the game, adding, “Why I’m successful on Dancing With the Stars is [because] I authentically connect with my partners. But for the first time, I wasn’t trying to build a genuine rapport and that was really hard for me. I found myself really struggling with lying. I just didn’t want to compromise who I am as a person for money.”
He continued: “I didn’t really compromise my moral compass. Maybe it made for boring TV. But I added a lot of excitement elsewhere. I was dancing with everybody all the time.”
Val Chmerkovskiy Disney/Howard Gordon
Instead of leaning into misleading his fellow contestants, Chmerkovskiy chose to stay true to his real nature.
“I wanted to win bad but really it was more of the challenge of getting out. I just wanted to solve the problem. That’s my approach to life in general. I want to be a person of value and that value will always be compensated,” he explained. “But to chase money around the house all day was different for me. It stopped being about the money and really became more about the challenge of getting out and leaving these guys. Because at some point you get cabin fever and I was already over half the cast.”
The professional dancer did manage to form a few meaningful alliances — including friendships with Spencer Pratt and Susan Noles.
Whether competing on TV for a cash prize or simply being filmed while living your day-to-day life, reality television stars almost always get a paycheck — and it may be bigger than you think. In 2021, Jason Tartick launched a “Trading Secrets” podcast, during which he is focused on “break[ing] the stigma that we shouldn’t […]
“I got to share a room with Spencer Pratt, who I’ve heard in the past was a reality TV villain. But it was just hilarious how we became best friends on the show,” Chmerkovskiy quipped. “We couldn’t be further apart from each other [with our] personalities. But you share such a small space with someone and you get to know them.”
Chmerkovskiy ultimately walked away happy with his time on Got to Get Out, telling Us, “I’m very passionate about the process. I just did my best — whatever that best was. I also try not to put so much pressure on myself. It takes a lot of self-discipline to not lose yourself. Maybe that’s where my experience came from since I’ve been on TV for 13 years on DWTS. I had a very cool, calm and collected type of approach to all of it.”
Got to Get Out is currently streaming on Hulu.
