Mauricio Umansky couldn’t stop smiling as he reunited with his former “Dancing With the Stars” partner, Emma Slater.
The dancing pro, 35, gushed over her recent run-in on Instagram Sunday, revealing that the reality star, 53, visited her backstage at the “DWTS Live 2024” tour, which Slater is currently hosting.
“So happy to see @mumansky18 last night at the DWTS tour ahhhh super grateful that we were partnered on the show, if you met him you already know he’s just the best,” she wrote on Instagram, adding, “Annnnnd he stole the show just by being in the audience .”
The dancing pro, 35, shared the recent run in on Instagram on Sunday with several photos and a video of them backstage. Instagram/theemmaslater
“He’s just the best,” she captioned the post.
Umansky and Slater were previously partnered together on Season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars.” The pair was sent home after the show’s “Monster Night,” where they performed a hustle and the Charleston during the “dance Monster-a-thon.”
Romantic rumors between Umansky and Slater began circling in October amid news of Umansky’s separation from his wife, Kyle Richards, as the duo was spotted enjoying an intimate dinner date and were seen holding hands as they exited the restaurant.
Umansky denied the relationship rumors.
The dancing partners then found themselves at the center of romance rumors, which they have denied.
“Super grateful that we were partnered on the show,” Slater said of her time with Umansky on ‘DWTS.’ theemmaslater/Instagram
“We do want to address this story, this whole thing, going out and about whether or not Emma and I are dating — whether we went out on a date,” Umansky said at the time via his Instagram Stories. “For full clarity, we are not dating.”
He continued, “When we came out of dinner, we were recapping and I reached out to grab Emma’s hand, and she grabbed my hand, and we, you know, walked to the cars just recapping and summarizing and then the paparazzi caught that moment. It’s become a blown-out moment.”
Richards, 55, and Umansky initially denied reports of their breakup, but went public with their split in September.
Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky announced their split in September. Getty Images For dcp
Umansky has said despite their separation that they’re not “throwing in the towel yet.” Instagram/kylerichards18
“Kyle and I are human beings, OK? We have emotions, we have feelings, we’re going through a really hard time, OK?” Umansky told TMZ at the time.
“We are currently separated, we are not talking about divorce and we’re trying to deal with this stuff internally with ourselves privately.”
He also told Page Six in October that despite their marital troubles, he and the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star were not “throwing in the towel yet.”
Richards, on the other hand, has sparked dating rumors with Country singer Morgan Wade.
The “Halloween” star recently left a cheeky comment under a photo of Wade, 29, dressed in country cowgirl gear on Instagram.
“Save a horse , ride a cowgirl ,” she wrote. To which, Wade responded with: ““@kylerichards18 \.”
Richards and Wade sparked dating rumors last year also amid reports of Richards’ split from Umansky. Instagram/kylerichards18
The pair have since been spotted in several flirty situations. Instagram/kylerichards18
Despite the flirty rapport, the two have denied having any romantic connection for several months. However, fans continued to speculate their relationship when the musician was seen rubbing Richards’ behind while posing for photos backstage at a “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” taping in February.
On Season 2 of his Netflix reality series, Umansky has since said he doesn’t care to know more about the nature of his estranged wife’s relationship with her friend.
They definitely have some sort of a connection together; there’s no question about that. They spend a lot of time together,” he said.
“Maybe one of the reasons I don’t want to ask is because I don’t want to put the extra pressure on her. If it’s working for her and it’s giving her the opportunity to be dealing with our separation … I’m good with that.”
