Exclusive Interview
‘DWTS’: Emma Slater & Alan Bersten Reveal How They Went From Friends to Dating
What To Know
- The Dancing With the Stars couple exclusively told Swooon about how they fell for each other after years of friendship.
- Slater and Bersten spent Valentine’s Day on the road as part of the DWTS tour.
It’s been nearly a year since Emma Slater and Alan Bersten went public with their relationship on the Dancing With the Stars tour in 2025. Prior to that declaration of love onstage, it was rumored for months that their friendship had turned romantic.
Bersten and Slater opened up to Swooon about what made them take the leap from friends to lovers in 2024.
“I think it’s really easy to love someone that you laugh with,” Slater admitted, as she and her boyfriend clocked in for a pre-Valentine’s Day “shift” at Raising Cane’s Flagship Store in New York City. “For me, that was something that I really enjoy about Alan. He’s so lighthearted. He brings warmth and joy to everybody he meets, including his partners on the show, including all of us on tour and in the cast. For me, it was really just that. I’m a simple girl.”
Bersten added, “Yeah, when you spend so much time with somebody, you learn all their little nuances and intricacies. I just love everything about Emma. It was easy.”
Now that they’ve gotten to know each other on a deeper level, they agreed that “communication style” is the best thing they’ve learned about each one another. “Sometimes I need a second to process and think about things,” Slater explained. “It wouldn’t serve anybody if I just said the first thing on my mind. I generally don’t do that. And sometimes Alan does do that and when he wants to talk about things straight away, I’m maybe not in a place to.”
She continued, “Now, we’ve learned how to best communicate that and we respect each other’s styles and understand that we don’t have to try to make the other person more to what you want. It’s just about meeting in the middle.”
Bersten shared that he and Slater “understand and accept” each other, which is why their relationship works so well. “She has taught me so much about being open and sharing things because a lot of times I like to keep things to myself,” he said. “Sharing it with Emma, she makes it so much easier to resolve things. It makes life a lot easier when you have somebody like that.”
The couple had a DWTS tour stop in New Jersey on Valentine’s Day, but were able to spend some time together during the day, and then embraced their time dancing together onstage at night. “I love that we get to dance together in front of a crowd on Valentine’s Day this year. It feels really special,” Bersten gushed.
