Former Pro Admits She Had Childhood Crush on Future DWTS Co-Star

Lindsay Arnold revealed she used to have a major crush on Val Chmerkovskiy.

In a November 224 interview on the “Lightweights” podcast, the former “Dancing with the Stars” pro dancer admitted she was “obsessed” with the Latin ballroom pro when she was a young dancer growing up in Utah.

Arnold, 30, was also best friends with Chmerkovskiy’s future wife, Jenna Johnson when they were kids.

Lindsay Arnold Fangirled Over Val Chmerkovskiy As a Kid

During her interview with “Lightweights” host Joe Vulpis, Arnold talked about some of the future “Dancing With the Stars” dancers she competed against in competitions years before she joined the ABC celebrity ballroom show. While she grew up dancing with fellow DWTS pros Johnson, Witney Carson, Brandon Armstrong, and more, Arnold noted that she didn’t compete against Chmerkovskiy, who was eight years older than her.

“Val, I always knew him but never competed against him,” Arnold said. “He was older. He like was kind of the generation, he was like Mark [Ballas], Derek [Hough], Val, Maks [Chmerkovskiy], Peta [Murgatroyd]. They were all kind of in a different generation. But I remember watching them and like, I was obsessed with Val growing up.”

“Like he was just like the pinnacle of like Hot Ballroom Competition Dancer and you’re just like ‘Val!’” she gushed. “And his partner was named Valeryia. And I remember like I’d watch their videos on YouTube all the time. I remember we did go to Blackpool and we saw him there and he knew my ballroom coach. And I just remember seeing him, being like starstruck.”

“Like in that world when you’re growing up those like older dancers they’re just like those are like your heroes, if that makes sense,” Arnold further explained. “Like those are our celebrities, like the dancers who were like winning all the competitions and they’re older than you. So that was very much like the Val, Mark, Derek, Maks all of them.”

Arnold was asked if it felt “crazy” when her friend Johnson started dating Chmerkovskiy years later.  “Oh my gosh yes, but also no because at that point like I’d known Val for such a long time. So at that point like he felt like a brother to me, all of them,” she said. “It was really funny like entering that world for the first season and being like, I’m with all these people that were like my heroes in dance and then now they’re like my best friends. So it wasn’t crazy and like I knew, Jenna’s one of my best friends so I knew it was going on. But it is funny when you think back on it. Like even me and Jenna are like ‘Remember when we used to look at them and be like oh my gosh?’ Like that was how we were.”

Fans Reacted to Lindsay Arnold’s Comments about Val Chmerkovskiy

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Arnold has talked about her close friendship with Johnson in the past. In a TikTok video she explained, “We were on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ together, but some of you may not know that I’ve literally known Jenna since kindergarten. Grew up, like, maybe five minutes away from each other, and we danced at the same studio together. We danced together starting at, like, the age of five and quickly became best friends. We  would hang out all the time, have sleepovers at each other’s houses.”

Arnold noted that her childhood friendship with Johnson “kind of fell apart” in high school when they went to different dance studios, but they still hung out in the same circle. They rekindled a close friendship as adults on “Dancing With the Stars.”

In a Reddit thread, fans reacted to Arnold gushing over Johnson’s future husband Chmerkovskiy as a teen. Some fans recalled that Arnold once revealed that Johnson hung out with her future husband Sam Cusick in high school.

“This is also funny because Jenna and Lindsay’s husband did kiss in like high school (she said it in a YouTube video lol),”one Reddit user wrote.

“They dated lol. not just kissing!” another fan claimed.

“I never knew this. The Venn diagram of who has dated who in the DWTS world just gets messier and messier. 😂, “wrote another.

“Secret Lives of Mormon Dance Wives… I’m totally kidding,” another “Dancing With the Stars” fan wrote.