Dancing With the Stars pro Jenna Johnson is addressing the viral speculation that she was injured in a near-fatal car accident.
“It has been brought to my attention by hundreds of you that there is an article circulating that I was involved in an accident with other horrifying information,” Johnson, 31, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Sunday, January 18. “This is absolutely FAKE NEWS.”
Over the weekend, a series of Facebook posts claimed that Johnson and her husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, were gravely injured in a near-catastrophic car crash. The social media uploaded also included images of a totaled car.
“It is SO distrurbing [sic] that AI is being used to spread misinformation like this,” Johnson said, blaming artificial intelligence for crafting the posts about the alleged accident. “Real lives should not be joked around with.”
She continued, “Please stop using my pictures to spread false news articles for clickbait. It’s disgusting!!! Whoever started this should be ashamed.”
Johnson and Chmerkovskiy, 39, are currently preparing for the 2026 DWTS live tour, which kicks off Thursday, January 22, in Akron, Ohio. The couple are also bringing their 3-year-old son, Rome, along for the five-month show.
Johnson last appeared on the tour in 2024, alongside former partner Joey Graziadei for a handful of dates.
“Selfishly as a performer, I’ve needed this past month [and] a half more than I can express,” Johnson wrote via Instagram in 2024 at the end of her touring run. “Since becoming a mother (truly the greatest role I’ve ever dreamed of) I’ve felt like I lost my identity as an artist. I’ve felt guilty and torn between being the best mom possible and feeling fulfilled as a performer. I didn’t think I was allowed to have both … until this experience rehearsing for and now dancing on tour.”
She continued, “I’ve never been more exhausted waking up at 7 a.m. with Rome on the bus, being mommy until I need to start getting ready, finishing the show at 10:30 p.m., and going to bed on average around 1:30 a.m./2 a.m. every night. It’s drained me but it’s brought me an insane amount of happiness that gets me choked up if I think about it long enough. I’ve realized that you can do it all. Mama’s out there, don’t give up on your dreams!!”
According to Johnson, she started to fall “in love with dance even more” after returning to the stage. She followed up the tour with a slot on DWTS season 34 last year, where she was partnered with Corey Feldman.
While Johnson and Feldman, 54, were eliminated after the first week of competition, the pro dancer continued to perform throughout the season in various bumpers.
“I absolutely adore Jan [Ravnik and] I actually requested to do this piece with him at the beginning of the season because he is such an incredible partner,” Johnson exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2025 of the duo’s Taylor Swift-themed routine on Halloween night. “I’m really glad that we had that moment together.”
Chmerkovskiy, for his part, finished in second place with celeb partner Alix Earle.
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