‘DWTS’ Pro Gleb Savchenko Slams ‘Mentally Abusive’ Wife, Claims She Threatened To ‘Skin’ Him

He was accused of cheating on his wife of 14 years and had to combat rumors he had done so with his recent “Dancing With the Stars” partner Chrishell Stause, but now, following Elena Samodanova’s divorce filing, Gleb Savchenko is setting the record straight with his accounting for what went wrong in his marriage.

Rumors have swirled about what led to the breakdown of the couple’s marriage since they announced their separation in November, with the pro dancer’s wife alleging that he had been unfaithful to her for years, and a recent relationship had been the tipping point. This led to endless speculation that he had become involved with Stause, and reports about the two circulated until she went public with her romance with fellow “DWTS” pro Keo Motsepe—one of Savchenko’s closest friends.

Since then, the trio, along with Savchenko’s rumored new flame Cassie Scerbo, all vacationed together, and Samodanova filed for divorce before debuting her own romance with fellow “DWTS” alum Vlad Kvartin. Now, Savchenko revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he was not the one who was unfaithful in the marriage and even slammed his soon-to-be ex-wife as jealous and mentally abusive.

“We’ve had problems for years. I was in a mentally abusive, jealous relationship,” he said. “I always said to myself, ‘Listen, she’s the mother of your kids, and you love her, just make it work for your kids.”

He also went on to indicate that the jealousy his wife had come from his getting a gig on the American version of “Dancing With the Stars,” while she was not cast, and that added to their problems.

“When we auditioned for ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in 2013, I got the show and she didn’t. She still to this day blames me, says it’s my fault,” he said, before adding that she took credit for helping choreograph all of his routines, something he not says was a lie.

Savchenko also insisted that his wife was the one who had been unfaithful, and he never strayed from their marriage, with Samodanova trying to set him up to take the fall for things ending—and that she even threatened to take everything he had away from him as he began to fight back and decided to walk away.

“Elena told me, ‘After this divorce, I’m gonna skin you. I’m gonna take everything you have, even your kids, and make you walk back to Russia where you come from.’ Those were her exact words,” Savchenko said. “She wants me to lose my job. She wants me to lose everything because she’s just very jealous and she cannot stand the fact that I finally found the inner strength to say, ‘Enough.’”