Gleb Savchenko Snubs Upcoming DWTS Contestant After She Criticizes Him

The next season of Dancing with the Stars hasn’t even begun and Gleb Savchenko is already at odds with another contestant.

Maura Higgins is one of the only confirmed members of the Season 35 cast. After she was revealed to have joined the upcoming lineup, she was asked who she would like to be paired up with. The Traitors alum then told E! News, “I’d be happy with anyone except Gleb.

Months later, the professional dancer responded, saying, “Until I was asked to comment on this story, I’d genuinely never heard of Maura, so I was quite surprised to learn she’d spoken about me so negatively.

“We’ve never met, and she doesn’t know me personally, so it’s disappointing to be judged based on a one-sided version of events rather than the facts,” he told People.

Maura’s “loyal” friendship with the dancer’s ex Brooks Nader is the reason she wants to keep her distance.

“I don’t really like the way he speaks about women,” she explained. “I don’t really want to spend all my time with someone like that. I’m like, no thank you.”

Gleb and Brooks first met when she was recruited to be a part of Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars. They were initially believed to be on great terms throughout the competition, despite getting cut early on in the season. However, the model has since confessed that that was far from the case.

After a whirlwind romance that continued for months after the show, she admitted, “We are both just so f—— petty, and we would do the most f—– up, petty, toxic things to each other throughout the whole season.”

“That’s why I think we had good chemistry,” she told Olivia Attwood on her Olivia’s House podcast.

The two ultimately split in April 2025 after Brooks allegedly caught the pro dancer cheating on her. Gleb has vehemently denied the claims.