Trevor Donovan has stepped up to defend his former Dancing With the Stars partner, Emma Slater.
The 41-year-old actor took to social media on Friday, October 27, to respond to rumors suggesting that Slater, 34, is romantically involved with her season 32 partner, Mauricio Umansky, amidst his separation from wife Kyle Richards.
“Many don’t understand the intense pressures of #DWTS,” Donovan wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), reflecting on his own time on the show. “The exhaustive nature of the rehearsals, and the stress of the show night performance. Forming a deep bond and friendship with your partner is natural under such circumstances.”
Donovan, who garnered attention for his chemistry with Slater during their partnership, mentioned that he grew “very close” to the Australian native during their time on the ABC competition series and that they remain “very close” today. He added, “I guess some will always see drama where there’s none.”
Romance rumors between Slater and Umansky, 53, began circulating earlier this month after they were photographed holding hands in Beverly Hills. The pair addressed the speculation a few days later, emphasizing that they are just “really good friends.”
“For full clarity, we are not dating,” Umansky clarified in an Instagram Story video on Thursday, October 26. “We’ve been dancing together now for six weeks, four hours a day every single day.” The real estate mogul explained that after a particularly intense and emotional week, they went to a restaurant to get sushi and were discussing their week during dinner. When they left the restaurant, he reached out to hold Emma’s hand as they continued talking. “She grabbed my hand and then we walked to the cars, just recapping.”
Slater, who filed for divorce from her estranged husband and fellow DWTS pro Sasha Farber in February, added that the show’s process is “intense” and forms a “very special bond” between the celebrity and their professional dance partner, noting that she and Umansky share “similar personalities.”
Speculation about the nature of their relationship intensified amid Umansky’s separation from Richards, 54. Us Weekly confirmed in July that the couple had separated after 27 years of marriage. At the time, they shared a joint statement about their “tough year” but stated they had no plans to divorce. (Umansky and Richards have daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23, and Portia, 15. Richards also has a daughter, Farrah, 34, with her first husband Guraish Aldjufrie.)
After the photos of Umansky and Slater holding hands went viral, Richards deleted an Instagram post from September supporting Umansky and Slater’s DWTS partnership and later expressed feeling “hurt” by the images.
“I don’t know if anything’s happened yet, but obviously there’s something there,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star told host Andy Cohen during the Wednesday, October 25, episode of Watch What Happens Live. “Listen, I love him very much and we are amicable.” Richards added that she was “taken aback” by the pictures, which were “very hard” for her to see.
Slater is no stranger to romance rumors surrounding her DWTS partnerships. Her relationship with Donovan raised eyebrows during season 31 when viewers noticed their chemistry on the ballroom floor.
“I gotta know — are those your acting skills or was that real?” cohost Alfonso Ribeiro asked the pair after their captivating week 2 Rumba in September 2022, to which Donovan replied, “If you’re really doing a good job acting, it all comes from the truth, so there’s something real in every performance.”
Slater later explained that people “expect that steam” and that partners are supposed to “tell a story” with their dancing. “I honestly believe in Trevor. I believe in his dance ability,” she continued. “I know we have this great connection, this great chemistry.”
Weeks later, Donovan praised their “familiar and light” chemistry during an October 2022 episode. “We have a very familiar and light chemistry. It’s a fun thing. It can show up as passion on the dance floor, but we’re just having fun,” he said. “We have fun every day we rehearse even when she’s about to explode because I’m doing things wrong that I used to do right. But it’s the levity and the lightness of our friendship and stuff, I think, that really translates to the dance. So we’re just 100 percent comfortable with each other.”
