Val Chmerkovskiy Admits Finding Time for Intimacy with Wife Jenna Johnson Is 'Hit or Miss' at Times (Exclusive)

Val Chmerkovskiy is opening up about his relationship with wife Jenna Johnson.

Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

After meeting in 2014 and tying the knot five years later, the Dancing with the Stars pros welcomed son Rome in 2023. Now, they are figuring out how to balance every aspect of their lives. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Chmerkovskiy explains that communication is key in their relationship.

“As far as intimacy with Jen and our personal time, yeah, it's hard,” he admits. “But again, it's just checking in with each other, communicating, making sure I communicate to her that I miss her and I need some attention, and vice versa.”

Joking that he and Johnson watch the same “relationship advice videos” as everyone else, the Got to Get Out star says that prioritizing their alone time doesn’t always work out, especially since they’ve become parents.

“It's a hit or miss,” he says. “It's not like a set in stone discipline routine, it's not like — well, maybe one day we'll get there — but we don't have this set, like, ‘On Tuesdays is date night,’ or ‘on Friday we...' Wherever we can find the time, we try to spend it together.”

“We check in and definitely try to allocate enough time for us to continue to love each other and be together and not lose that spontaneity and that joy for each other too,” he continues. “But yeah, we're new parents, so we're still calibrating things. We're still figuring it out, and most importantly, we're patient with each other.”

When it comes to their son Rome, who is now 2, Chmerkovskiy reveals the advice he and Johnson live by.

“Something that someone said to me that I did find valuable, and obviously with a grain of salt, but it was, ‘Remember, your kid is coming into your life,’” the professional dancer recalls. “‘He's joining your life, so you're not joining his, in a way where it's like, bring him along on the ride.' So if we travel a lot, we work a lot, we're on set, we're rehearsing, I bring him along. And obviously, at times, it's uncomfortable and it's not as easy with a child, but you get used to it, he gets used to it.”

Chmerkovskiy also reflects on watching Johnson win the most recent season of DWTS alongside partner Joey Graziadei, explaining that even though they are competing against each other on the show, seeing her take home the mirrorball trophy felt like a win for both of them.

“We've experienced defeat, and as a family, we had to feel that and learn to enjoy that,” he says. “Obviously I'm using that word in a different way, but yeah, you got to learn from your losses, and we did on several occasions, and I was just excited to learn from her win as well.”

“From my perspective, being next to this person who's committed herself to this project for so many seasons, so long, and even this season in particular, for her to finally be rewarded for her work meant a lot to me,” he adds. “It was probably one of the best moments of my experience on Dancing with the Stars, watching her win.”