The pro dancer also talks to ET about whether he thinks any OG pros could return for the upcoming 30th season.
Gleb Savchenko's 10-year-old daughter, Olivia, has some ideas for who should appear on the next season of Dancing With the Stars!
ET spoke with Gleb over Zoom on Friday, just days after he officially became a U.S. citizen, where he opened up about the dance competition show's upcoming 30th season this fall. He revealed there's one specific celebrity his eldest daughter really wants to see compete this season, that would totally win him some cool dad points.
"Charli D'Amelio. That's Olivia's like, 'Dad, you've gotta get her! C'mon! You're gonna win. She's so good at TikTok,'" exclaimed Gleb, who also shares 3-year-old daughter Zlata with ex Elena Samodanova. "She's like, 'I want to do a TikTok with her. I'm going to get so many more followers.'"
"Olivia just learns things from TikTok," he added. "She told me something the other day and I was like, 'What? How do you know this?' And she was like, 'Well, TikTok, Dad!'"
Gleb said that if Charli were to do the show and introduce Olivia to her, he already has an idea of how she'd react.
"She'd be like, 'OMG, Dad, I want to take a picture.' She has no filter. It's not like, 'Oh, you're a star, I'm shy.' She's not like that at all," he explained. "She'll come up and be like, 'Hey, can I take a picture? Can we do the [TikTok dance]?'"
Interestingly enough, Derek Hough also mentioned Charli's name while co-hosting Entertainment Tonight on Monday. "There's so many people I think that could be great on the show. Because I've been in the TikTok world a little bit this past year, it would be cool to see maybe one of the D'Amelio sisters," he said at the time, referring to Charli and Dixie D'Amelio. "I think Charli would crush it. She would be unbelievable, without a doubt."
As for Gleb's personal dream partner? "Charlize Theron, she'd be a great partner," he shared. "I mean, I would be like, I wouldn't be able to work. I'd be like, 'Is that really happening right now?' I love her."
ABC does comment on casting rumors ahead of the official reveal, so it will be a while until we hear which pros and celebrities will be in the ballroom this season. Gleb told ET he's still waiting for a call from production regarding his own fate on the show, but will absolutely say yes if they ask him back.
"No phone calls yet. We don't know until the very last moment," he explained. "It could be two weeks, it could be two days, it could be like really soon. They like to keep us on edge."
Season 30 of Dancing With the Stars premieres Sept. 20 on ABC. In the meantime, hear more from our Q&A with Gleb below.
ET: Season 30. It's truly remarkable to say that number out loud. How exciting is it for you, and the show, to reach that milestone?
Gleb Savchenko: Oh man, it's crazy! It's crazy that we're still here and still going so strong. It's because of the fans, because of so much love and because of so much support that we get every single season. Shout-out to all the fans of Dancing With the Stars. Guys, we love you so, so much, because you're still giving us this opportunity to come out on the dance floor, to perform for you and create. We're literally living a dream.
Thank you, we really appreciate it. And I'm speaking on behalf of the whole cast of Dancing With the Stars. I'm sure every single person would agree with me right now. It's amazing.
Dancing With the Stars, it's my family. I love everyone, every single person, the whole team is amazing. We're all creating something together, and when you look back at it, you're like, "Wow, that's actually very, very special." So, I'm beyond proud and happy.
We're about two months away from showtime. How do you pro dancers deal with the anticipation? What do you do to prepare during that time? I feel like you always gotta be ready just in case...
I constantly am active. I teach online lessons, I choreograph, I dance with my daughter. So I dance all the time. I like to stay active throughout the whole year, no matter what, and be ready anytime.
Just because, I don't like those days where you let yourself loose, where you're, like, sitting around, having a beer, donuts and watching Netflix. And then you're, like, stressed out like crazy, you have to run at the gym and hit, like, five workouts a day to lose all of that. I like to do it every single day. That's my routine, it's a lifestyle.
There's been some fan speculation that the show might actually be auditioning new pros. What do you think about that? And can you talk about the pressure that puts on veteran pros?
I think if you look at the show, every single person hits their own spot ... the sexy guy [me], with a little long hair and Russian. There's Val Chmerkovskiy, who's an amazing dancer ... everyone is different. When you have a new pro, I think it's a great addition, because there's a little pressure.
But for a show, right now, to change and, like, not take somebody and replace us? I don't think it would be the best choice. I wanna do it!
With it being season 30, do you think it would be possible at all for the show to maybe have more couples? Because we have Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold who want to come back (after taking a season off), we still have Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov. There's a lot of names and only so many spots.
Listen, if they could do 20 couples in 16 weeks, I'm so down for it! Give me 25 weeks! Then we go on tour, straight back to season 31. I just want to perform, I just want to work, create and I wanna move.
A fan recently mentioned an idea that I love: having the pros, past and present, coming together to do a big season 30 group number. Realistically, what do you think the chances are of that happening? Do you think everyone would come back?
I'm sure everyone would be thrilled to be back. Just because we're still, all of us, friends, even though some people have transitioned into something else.
Like Karina [Smirnoff], I'm still in touch with her. She recently had a baby, she's traveling the world, doing her thing. I'm sure she would love to come back and be in a number. Tony [Dovolani] would love to do it, Edyta [Śliwińska], Alec Mazo would love to do it, Mark Ballas, everybody, I'm sure.
Imagine how sick it would be if we go somewhere on location and do this huge group number with everybody, and everybody has their own moment. It would be insane.
Days before season 30 kicks off, you're going to be celebrating another milestone, your 38th birthday! What's something you still want to achieve or manifest for your life in year 38?
Damn, I'm getting so old! Listen, number one, winning the mirrorball. We gotta watch this video back in November and be like, 'He manifested that s**t! So good.' And I just want to sort of get through this last phase of everything we're going through [as a family].
Hopefully we're going to go back on tour ... COVID-19 is going to be over, we're all going to go back to normal life, and we're all going to be happy and in peace.
A few other pros have spoken about this in the past -- Artem Chigvintsev, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Cheryl Burke -- about the toll dancing can take on the body after all these years. How will you know when it's time to hang up the shoes? Or do you see yourself performing long-term, as long as you can?
As a dancer, you're not getting younger. I feel like I can do a lot of things still [knocks on wood]. I work out, I try to eat healthy and take care of myself, but of course I've thought about it.
There's a lot of different opportunities. Judging opportunities, choreographing ... maybe one day judging Dancing With the Stars? You never know. Here I am -- take me, take me!
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