Adele Zaikman walked away from Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro with the career-changing prize she had been chasing — but it turns out the competition also introduced her to someone who would become much more than a fellow dancer.
The newly minted Dancing With the Stars professional has confirmed a relationship with Allen Genkin, one of the dancers she competed against during the inaugural season of The Next Pro.
Genkin made their romance public on September 30, Zaikman’s 25th birthday, with a series of affectionate photographs of the pair and an emotional birthday message.
He called Adele the best thing that happened to him because of The Next Pro and described the connection they had built as something extremely special. He also said he felt incredibly lucky to have her in his life before ending the message by declaring his love for her.
The announcement immediately attracted attention because viewers had already been noticing the chemistry between Adele and Allen while The Next Pro was airing.
The two became especially close after being paired together during the show’s storytelling challenge. They performed an emotional rumba inspired by Allen’s late mother, a routine that required the dancers to spend countless hours rehearsing and working through an intensely personal story together.
Allen later revealed that rehearsing the number was highly emotional for both of them and that they repeatedly cried while preparing it.
Their partnership didn’t end with that routine. Adele and Allen continued appearing together away from the competition, leading some fans to wonder whether their connection had developed beyond friendship.
But the precise timeline of their romance remains interesting.
As recently as September 19, Adele was still publicly saying that she and Allen were single when she was questioned about the growing dating speculation. She acknowledged that fans were constantly sending messages saying the two should be together and jokingly promised to let people know if anything happened.
Only 11 days later, their relationship became public.
That means viewers who believed they noticed something between Adele and Allen during The Next Pro weren’t imagining their close bond — although neither dancer has publicly confirmed exactly when that friendship officially became romantic.
Adele ultimately defeated the other 11 hopeful dancers to win The Next Pro on August 31, earning a coveted professional spot on Dancing With the Stars Season 35. She was paired with Conner Leavitt, though their ballroom run ended during the first elimination.
Allen finished fourth on The Next Pro, but his connection with Adele clearly continued after filming ended.
So Adele may have won the professional opportunity everyone was competing for, but months after she and Allen first met as rivals chasing the same DWTS dream, their story has produced an unexpected second prize — a relationship neither was ready to publicly confirm until now.
