DWTS' Brooks Nader Says Gleb Savchenko 'Arranged' a Pole-Dancing Lesson to Help Her 'Feel Confident' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader attend the PXG San Diego Grand Opening Celebration on October 09, 2024 in San Diego, California.Photo:Jerod Harris/Getty

Jerod Harris/Getty

Brooks Nadercan’t help but praise herDancing with the StarspartnerGleb Savchenko.At the Clarins Double Serum Generation 9 Launch Party on Saturday, Oct. 19, theSports Illustrated Swimsuitcover model spoke with PEOPLE about her time onDWTSand her dancing partner Savchenko.Ahead of the Oct. 19 conversation, the pair were eliminated on the Oct. 15 episode ofDWTS. Prior to that, romance rumors kicked off between the two when they shared a kiss during their rehearsal footage and thenshared kisses backstagethroughout the week 2 episode, PEOPLE confirmed.“He’s just such an amazing person and human all around,” Nader exclusively told PEOPLE of the professional ballroom dancer, 41. “He really cares about people and he kept saying the whole time, ‘I just want to make you look really good and I want you to have the best experience withDancing with the Stars.' ”Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko on Tuesday, Oct. 15.Eric McCandless/Disney“He was really focused on that the entire season, wanted to make me look hot, wanted to make me feel confident,” she explained.She then noted that Savchenko also “arranged that whole pole dancing lesson” for her, which she later performed on stageduring Hair Metal Night on Oct. 3.“Just to make sure I felt great and he just cared," she said of the lesson. “I feel like that’s rare these days and so I’m so appreciative to have had him as a partner. He’s an amazing guy.“Nader also told PEOPLE how “incredible” the entireDWTSjourney was for her, despite getting eliminated.“I’m so honored that I made it as far as I did and I got to end it on such a high notewith my sisters in the dance with meand my whole family was there,” she said before adding that she had “mixed feelings [about the elimination], but everything happens for a reason.”The model also revealed she feels she “won in the end” because she “learned and grew so much throughout the process.”The pair’s elimination came a week afterthey got matching tattoos togetheron Monday, Oct. 7, at Hollywood’s Nautilus Tattoo. There, they showed off some serious PDA as she got inked on her hip and he on his chest.Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader in New York City on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.At the Oct. 19 Clarins event, although she confessed to PEOPLE that she’d never gotten a tattoo before this one, she did not reveal details of her “private” tattoo.She also remarked that, at the time, her parents were visiting. “They saw some Page Six thing and were like ‘How was dinner, did you do something else?’ and I’m like, ‘No.’ And they go, ‘Really?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m busted, but I’m an adult, so I can get a tattoo. It’s very tiny, very thin, and it’s my only tattoo.’”She added that it’s likely the “end of [her] tattoo journey, but who knows? Anything could happen.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Dancing with the Starsairs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Brooks Nadercan’t help but praise herDancing with the StarspartnerGleb Savchenko.

At the Clarins Double Serum Generation 9 Launch Party on Saturday, Oct. 19, theSports Illustrated Swimsuitcover model spoke with PEOPLE about her time onDWTSand her dancing partner Savchenko.

Ahead of the Oct. 19 conversation, the pair were eliminated on the Oct. 15 episode ofDWTS. Prior to that, romance rumors kicked off between the two when they shared a kiss during their rehearsal footage and thenshared kisses backstagethroughout the week 2 episode, PEOPLE confirmed.

“He’s just such an amazing person and human all around,” Nader exclusively told PEOPLE of the professional ballroom dancer, 41. “He really cares about people and he kept saying the whole time, ‘I just want to make you look really good and I want you to have the best experience withDancing with the Stars.' ”

Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko on Tuesday, Oct. 15.Eric McCandless/Disney

Eric McCandless/Disney

“He was really focused on that the entire season, wanted to make me look hot, wanted to make me feel confident,” she explained.

She then noted that Savchenko also “arranged that whole pole dancing lesson” for her, which she later performed on stageduring Hair Metal Night on Oct. 3.

“Just to make sure I felt great and he just cared,” she said of the lesson. “I feel like that’s rare these days and so I’m so appreciative to have had him as a partner. He’s an amazing guy.”

Nader also told PEOPLE how “incredible” the entireDWTSjourney was for her, despite getting eliminated.

“I’m so honored that I made it as far as I did and I got to end it on such a high notewith my sisters in the dance with meand my whole family was there,” she said before adding that she had “mixed feelings [about the elimination], but everything happens for a reason.”

The model also revealed she feels she “won in the end” because she “learned and grew so much throughout the process.”

The pair’s elimination came a week afterthey got matching tattoos togetheron Monday, Oct. 7, at Hollywood’s Nautilus Tattoo. There, they showed off some serious PDA as she got inked on her hip and he on his chest.

Gleb Savchenko and Brooks Nader in New York City on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.

ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.

At the Oct. 19 Clarins event, although she confessed to PEOPLE that she’d never gotten a tattoo before this one, she did not reveal details of her “private” tattoo.

She also remarked that, at the time, her parents were visiting. “They saw some Page Six thing and were like ‘How was dinner, did you do something else?’ and I’m like, ‘No.’ And they go, ‘Really?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m busted, but I’m an adult, so I can get a tattoo. It’s very tiny, very thin, and it’s my only tattoo.’”

She added that it’s likely the “end of [her] tattoo journey, but who knows? Anything could happen.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Dancing with the Starsairs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

source: people.com