'Hot single dad with kids? Game over!' the 'Dancing With the Stars' pro tells ET.
Gleb Savchenko is embracing his new life as a single dad... and is ready for his own reality show!
While speaking to ET over Zoom, the Dancing With the Stars pro opened up about what it's been like co-parenting his two kids, Olivia, 10, and Zlata, 4, amid his ongoing divorce from Elena Samodanova. The two split in November 2020 after 14 years of marriage.
"It's everything. Starting from waking up in the morning, to doing their hair, making breakfast, taking them to school, doing activities ... just being a dad, it's an amazing thing," Savchenko, 37, gushed. "It's funny because when we were together, with Elena, I didn't have that much time with them. Because either I was on tour, or on the season, and we had a full-time nanny."
"Now we go strictly five and five. It's 50/50, so on my days, it's like 100 percent me being a single dad with two girls," he continued. "It's an amazing TV show idea, by the way! Hot single dad with kids? Game over!"
Savchenko said his girls would "100 percent" be down for the idea too, especially Olivia, who is already an entertainer in her own right. "Olivia would be, like, killing it," he said, referencing her obsession with TikTok.
As for how he's adapted to single dad life, and the lessons his daughters have taught him over the past year, Savchenko said there's just "so much love" within the family.
"There's such a bond that we have. It's just kind of something that I've realized being with them," he shared. "I love them to death, but when you're working, when you're busy, when you're not there, when you're not present as much as you want to. Now I'm present all the time and that's like an amazing gift of life."
"Being a dad, especially to girls, it's like the best thing," he added. "Just being with them, being loved, and giving love."
Right now, Savchenko is staying focused on his two girls and patiently waiting to hear if he's officially cast as a pro for the upcoming 30th season of Dancing With the Stars. He's currently single, he said, but "has a friend."
"I have a friend, let's put it this way. A friend," he revealed, laughing, when asked if he's ready to date again yet. "I have a beautiful friend. She's kinda famous. That's it!"
Savchenko's also celebrating another big milestone: becoming a U.S. citizen last month after a years-long process. The Russia native told ET it was "a long time coming," so he's so happy to finally be able to say "I'm a proud American citizen."
"I am beyond excited that I am a citizen now. I'm going to get my passport, I'll be able to travel as an American, I don't use visas anymore, and at some point I'm going to be able to bring my family here and do a whole family reunion," Savchenko said. "It was almost 15 years in total from the time I came to New York, applied for my work visa ... it was a long time."
Savchenko said becoming a U.S. citizen is something his entire family has been celebrating. Samodanova also obtained citizenship in her own ceremony last week.
"We're good with each other," Savchenko said, of where things stand with his ex today. "We haven't gone through the whole thing [divorce process] yet, but we respect each other a lot, and she's the mother of my kids. She had her ceremony first and I had mine, but we were kind of there together."
Hear more in the video below.
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