‘DWTS’ Pros Mourn the Loss of Dancer Serge Onik
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The dancing world took a hard blow this week. On Tuesday, the death of Dancing with the Stars choreographer, Serge Onik was confirmed. Since the tragic news surfaced, a number of DWTS pros took to social media to mourn his loss. Onik’s funeral took place yesterday in Hackensack, NJ. The cause of death has still not been disclosed.
Peta Murgatroyd Reacts to the Loss of Serge Onik
On Wednesday, two time DWTS winner, Peta Murgatroyd took to Instagram to react to the loss of Serge Onik. Murgatroyd is also the wife is Maksim Chmerkovskiy, whom Onik worked closely with on the show. On the platform, she shared a variety of photos of the late dancer, including several of the two together.
“My Serge…..my Koala I can’t believe it, I am completely broken,” Murgatroyd expressed. “I’m filled with regret because I was going to text you and tell you that I missed you last week and it slipped my mind. I f*cking hate how I forgot to do this. I will always hate myself for this. My heart f*cking hurts, my eyes f*cking hurt and my soul is aching to squeeze you one last time. I just need one last squeeze and one last play fight like we used to.”
Among those in the comments section was DWTS Pro Alan Bersten. He shared publicly on her platform that he teared up while reading her post. Murgatroyd continued to react to Onik’s passing in that same post.
Not long after her initial post, Murgatroyd payed another tribute to Onik. She shared a video of the star sending a number of air kisses her way, along with footage of Onik working on a dance for her and Nick Viall during DWTS season 24.
“The kindest soul, this video kills me now,” she captioned the post.
Along with Murgatroyd, a number of DWTS pros took to social media to pay their respects to Onik. Murgatroyd’s brother-in-law, Val Chmerkovskiy, posted a tribute to the late dancer. He chose a photo of the two sitting on the bumper of the back of a moving van.
Other DTWS Pros Pay Their Respects
“We grew up together. We moved and lived together. And as life separated us a few degrees recently every time we’d connect catch up it felt like we never missed a beat,” Chmerkovskiy wrote. “Our friendship was unconditional. No hidden agendas, never. You said what you meant and never wasted a moment to lift someone’s spirits. Never cared for who was who or what you can gain from what, you only saw the best in people and tried your best to bring joy to all of them,” he continued. “You were a real friend. The type that would put others ahead of yourself. I wish I told you more often how dear you were to me, how much I loved you.”
Chmerkovskiy’s wife and fellow professional dancer, Jenna Johnson also worked with Onik on both DWTS and So You Think You Can Dance. Like the others, she also took to social media to react to the loss of Onik. On Instagram, she shared a slideshow that honored his memory.
“We first met during Vegas week for SYTYCD. We got partnered together and I immediately fell in love with your spirit and love of dance,” she wrote…”You were selfless, full of laughter, talented beyond belief, and everybody’s favorite wingman. We shared an Aries spirit and have birthday’s one day apart. Never did you miss being one of the first ones to text me on my birthday. Val and I happened to get married on your birthday 4/13… you flew out for our wedding with no hesitation and celebrated the whole day with us. You better believe that our anniversary will have even more meaning now.”
Specializing in Latin Ballroom, Onik competed on So You Think You Can Dance on season 11. He became a fan favorite during the competition and made it to the top 14 before being eliminated. Most recently, the dancer appeared in Lin-Manuel’s movie adaptation of In The Heights. The film premiered earlier this summer.
