Dancing With the Stars professional dancer Gleb Savchenko has hit back at Love Island UK star Maura Higgins after she said she would refuse to be partnered with him on the US dance show, following his messy split from her best friend Brooks Nader.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Savchenko, 42, said: "Until I was asked to comment on this story, I'd genuinely never heard of this girl, Maura, so I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over the opinions of someone I've never met."
He added: "It's odd to publicly attack someone you've never even met, but if that's how she wants to make headlines before the show starts, that's her choice. I'll stay focused and leave the unnecessary drama to everyone else."
Higgins, 35, told E! News on Monday that she would be "happy with anyone but Gleb," citing her loyalty to Nader, 29, who was partnered with Savchenko on Dancing With the Stars in 2024.
"I'd be happy with anyone but Gleb. That's only because I'm loyal and I'm friends with Brooks [Nader]," she said. "I don't really like the way he speaks about women. I don't really want to spend all my time with someone like that. I'm like, no thank you."
Higgins said she is instead hoping to be paired with fellow professional Valentin Chmerkovskiy, teasing the possibility of dancing with him in a video she shared.
Gleb and Brooks' messy split
Higgins' comments came after Savchenko branded his ex-girlfriend "the worst sex" he has ever had. Speaking to Dakota Mortensen, the ex of reality TV star Taylor Frankie Paul, Savchenko said: "When I dated her, it was pretty bad. Probably the worst sex of my life."
The Moscow-born dancer and choreographer also claimed the Louisiana-born Nader often took things to a rough level he was uncomfortable with. "She was so f***ed up," he said. "She wanted to make out with me, and I was like, 'That's not my vibe.'"
Savchenko further alleged that Nader, who has also been linked to actor Taron Egerton, "choked me, pushed me against the wall, chipped my tooth." The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for both Nader and Savchenko for further comment and had yet to hear back.
Timeline of the relationship
Savchenko and Nader began seeing each other in the fall of 2024 after being partnered on Dancing With the Stars, with a romance quickly forming between them. Nader hinted in an October 2024 TikTok clip that the pair had parted ways.
"Gleb got way too comfortable, especially in the amount of time he was spending at Brooks' home, to a point it had begun to concern Brooks' people and family close to her," an insider told US Weekly of the couple's split that autumn.
The pair appeared to reconcile the following month, when Nader welcomed Savchenko to her family's Thanksgiving dinner. But they split again in April last year, with Savchenko telling Page Six he had been caught off guard.
"I was surprised to learn through article(s) published today... that Brooks has ended our relationship," he told the outlet at the time.
