Dancing With the Stars’ Emma Slater and Alan Bersten are the ultimate lovebirds.
Slater, 37, and Bersten, 31, exclusively opened up to Luxury Handbag Shopping about their relationship while working a pre–Valentine’s Day “shift” at Raising Cane’s in Times Square. After snacking on the restaurant’s chicken tenders and fries, the couple revealed the moment their relationship went from friendly to romantic.
“Last year on the last show of [the Dancing With the Stars Live] tour, I was like, ‘I’m gonna kiss her. I’m gonna do it on stage,’” Bersten recalled, noting that he asked Slater for permission before planting one on her. “I asked her beforehand, because I was pretty scared.”
Slater, for her part, was surprised by Bersten’s gesture. “I said, ‘Really?!’” she told Us. “And he says, ‘Yeah, I’m just gonna kiss you.’”
She gave him the green light, but she still “didn’t think he was gonna do it.”
“He did it, and then we messed up the dance,” she recalled with a laugh. “Afterwards, the audience was screaming, and it was really loud.”
When they look to the future, Slater and Bersten are most excited about the little things in life.
“Honestly, I think for me, it’s [making more] memories,” said Slater. “It’s just moments. Obviously, I love dancing together. I think it’s just creating those personal moments together and the privacy.”
Bersten agreed, saying, “We get to dance together, which is incredible to share these moments on stage. But one of my favorite things [was going] to Hawaii last year and just [being] off the grid for days.”
During their romantic getaway, the duo went hiking and swimming with dolphins. Bersten gushed that he can’t wait to travel with Slater again and “enjoy life” alongside her.
“I’m at that point now, where I just want to feel everything,” Slater added.
Before they can take another romantic trip, Slater and Bersten are loving the tour life through mid-June.
“I feel like I’m touring with my confidant, someone I can really rely on,” Slater explained to Us. “I love being able to have chats with him and just work with him. I love the fact that we can work so well together. And then we have our little dog, Jeff, with us, who brings a smile to my face.”
Bersten also praised Slater for always being “caring.”
“She definitely makes me a much better person,” he said with a smile. “I feel like Emma’s whole ethos is just to be kind so it really helps me be a better person. Also, she’s extremely beautiful.”
Slater, who put her hand over her heart while listening to Bersten’s kind words, shared that she loved how much the pair “laugh together.”
“I love how funny he is,” she told Us. “Everybody laughs around Alan, and he brings up people’s spirits. I feel like it’s one of the things that people love about him on the show, but I get to experience that on a personal level.”
She then shared a sweet moment she had with Bersten where they were laughing in the kitchen together.
“It means so much to me,” she said. “I think that laughter is medicine, and it’s a key to making a relationship work.”
