NEWSGleb Savchenko Calls Out Maura Higgins for 'Unnecessary Drama' After Her 'Dancing With the Stars' Comments
Gleb Savchenko responded after Maura Higgins said she did not want to be paired with him on 'Dancing with the Stars.'
Aug. 5 2026, Updated 1:49 p.m. ET
Gleb Savchenko fired back after Maura Higgins said she did not want to be paired with him on Dancing with the Stars.
"I’ll stay focused and leave the unnecessary drama to everyone else," Savchenko told the Daily Mirror on August 4.
Gleb Savchenko Said He Had 'Never Heard of' Maura Higgins Before
Gleb Savchenko accused Maura Higgins of chasing headlines before 'DWTS' debut.
Savchenko dismissed Higgins' remarks and said he was not bothered by them.
"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 revealed.
He continued, "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."
Higgins Previously Said She Would Accept 'Anyone Except Gleb'
Maura Higgins said she did not want Gleb Savchenko as her partner on 'Dancing with the Stars' out of loyalty to Brooks Nader.
When Higgins was announced as a Dancing with the Stars cast member in May, she was asked who she wanted as her partner.
The Irish model told E! News, "I'd be happy with anyone except Gleb."
She explained, "That's only because I'm loyal, and I'm friends with Brooks [Nader]," referring to Savchenko’s partner on the 2024 season of the show, whom he ended up dating.
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Maura Higgins said she wanted Mark Ballas instead of Gleb Savchenko on 'Dancing with the Stars.'
Higgins also added about Savchenko, "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."
Besides, she already has her eyes on another pro for her partner: three-time Mirrorball champion Mark Ballas, who also acted alongside her on The Traitors Season 4.
"I even get nervous of saying it because I see all these videos and they're like, 'Mark! Mark!'" Higgins quipped. "My accent is crazy, but I do want Mark."
Savchenko and Brooks Nader Started Dating in 2024 and Split in 2025
Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader began dating after meeting on 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2024.
After meeting on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars in 2024, Savchenko and Nader gave in to the sexual tension between them and started dating, with Nader even claiming that the two slept together on the first day they met.
The two dated on and off for eight months before parting ways for good in April 2025. Since then, both have been candid about their relationship and messy split as well.
Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader traded harsh remarks about their past relationship in separate interviews.
Savchenko said about Nader in an episode of the YouTube competition show Unwell Winter Games: "When I dated her, it was pretty bad. Probably the worst s-- of my life. She was so f----- up."
Meanwhile, Nader branded him "bitter" on Olivia Attwood's podcast "Olivia's House with Olivia Attwood," saying, "We're both so f----- petty, and we would just do the most f----- up, toxic, petty things to each other."
