4 hours ago
4
Maura Higgins has insisted she is refusing to partner with Gleb Savchenko on her upcoming Dancing With The Stars stint next month.
The Love Island UK star, 35, made her feelings crystal clear when discussing who she doesn't want to be paired up with on the American dance competition.
Maura hopes she won't have to face the Russian professional dancer, 42, because she doesn't agree with the 'way he talks about women'.
She said she will be remaining fiercely 'loyal' to her best pal and former DWTS contestant Brooks Nader, 29, who dated Gleb.
The former couple endured a 'messy' split after they sparked a romance during their time partnered on the show in 2024.
'I'd be happy with anyone but Gleb,' Maura told E! News. 'That's only because I'm loyal and I'm friends with Brooks [Nader].'
Maura added: '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.'
Maura Higgins has insisted she is refusing to partner with Gleb Savchenko on her upcoming Dancing With The Stars stint next month
She said she will be remaining fiercely 'loyal' to her best pal and former DWTS contestant Brooks Nader, who dated Gleb in 2024 before their 'messy' split (pictured together)
The Sun reported that Gleb was not thrilled about Maura's public takedown of him as a source said: 'Gleb thought Maura was out of line coming for him like that.
'He gets that she is being a good mate and sticking up for her friend, but she wasn’t in the relationship and doesn’t know all sides of it.
'It’s going to be really awkward backstage now. They’ll basically have to avoid each other as Gleb won’t be making small talk, and Maura’s not the type to back down either.'
The Daily Mail has contacted Gleb's representatives for comment.
Maura is hoping she will instead be paired with Valentin Chmerkovskiy as she teased in a video of them dancing together.
Maura's comments about Gleb comes after he branded his ex-girlfriend Brooks 'the worst sex' he has ever had.
'When I dated her, it was pretty bad. Probably the worst sex of my life' the ballroom dancer claimed to Dakota Mortensen, ex of reality TV star Taylor Frankie Paul.
Gleb also claimed the Louisiana-born beauty often took things to a rough level that he was not comfortable with.
'She was so f***ed up,' the Moscow-born dancer and choreographer said. 'She wanted to make out with me, and I was like, "That's not my vibe."'
Gleb also alleged that Brooks, who has also been linked to actor Taron Egerton, 'choked me, pushed me against the wall, chipped my tooth'.
Maura hopes she won't have to face the Russian professional dancer because she doesn't agree with the 'way he talks about women'
Maura is hoping she will instead by paired with Valentin Chmerkovskiy as she teased in a video of them dancing together
The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for Brooks and Gleb for further comment on the story and has yet to hear back.
They began seeing one another in the fall of 2024 when they were partners on Dancing With the Stars, with it quickly becoming apparent that a romance was forming.
Brooks intimated in an October 2024 TikTok clip that they 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 in the fall of 2024.
Things appeared on track again the next month, when Brooks welcomed Gleb to her family's Thanksgiving dinner.
The duo parted ways again in April last year, with Gleb telling Page Six he was caught off-guard by their split.
'I was surprised to learn through article(s) published today … that Brooks has ended our relationship,' the dance pro told the outlet at the time.
English (US) ·