"I've been campaigning for Val," Ciara Miller said during a Live From E! Stream: Met Gala interview on May 4, telling viewers she had been putting out feelers after her casting was announced. The reality star framed the push as part hope, part PR — "I don't know if they hear me, but yeah, sending out some emails, putting my word in. We'll see where everyone wants to place me."
Valentin Chmerkovskiy responded on June 5 at the 33rd Annual Race to Erase MS Gala, saying he was touched by Miller's shout-out. "First of all, I’m so humbled because I saw the Ciara video and there are things that I’m not allowed to disclose at this point in the off season," he told guests, then added, "So, I felt bad. I wanted to say thank you because what a huge compliment it is to be shouted out that way." He closed the exchange simply: "So, thank you," — a public nod that acknowledged her campaign without promising a partnership.
Miller has been explicit about what she wants to learn on the show. In an April 22 video announcing she was joining season 35 of Dancing With the Stars, she said she was excited to learn the cha cha and that she was "really excited for a waltz." She also offered a lighter aside: "Very random, but a box step I've always loved. Like, I want to be in Bridgerton so bad." Those details help explain why a pairing with a seasoned pro like Chmerkovskiy would make sense for her ambitions.
Another pro chimed in. Jenna Johnson, a fellow dancer on the series, told attendees she had her own preferences for new castings: "I wanna dance with one of them, honestly," she said, and then, "Whichever one, please." Johnson specifically named Miller and Maura Higgins as partners she’d welcome, making clear that the pro corps sees the newcomers as desirable matches.
The friction in this exchange is not private drama so much as structure: Chmerkovskiy repeatedly underscored the limits of his role. "There are things that I’m not allowed to disclose at this point in the off season," he said, and then put the power elsewhere: "I am not the one in charge of casting." Those two lines do most of the work here — gratitude without commitment, enthusiasm fenced by process.
What matters now is purely procedural. Miller was cast in season 35 and has publicly signaled Val as her preferred partner; Chmerkovskiy has publicly thanked her and declined to say more. That leaves the only decisive actor: the show's casting process, which will sort pros and celebs into actual pairs when producers finalize the lineups for the coming season.
In short, Miller got her public reply, and Chmerkovskiy gave a courteous, noncommittal answer that preserves every outcome. If viewers want a verdict on whether Miller will land Chmerkovskiy as a partner, they'll have to wait for the casting announcement — his words narrowed the field of speculation but did not close it.
