What began as an ordinary weekend for Dancing With the Stars professionals Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson suddenly became every parent’s nightmare.
On Sunday, September 27, 2026, their 3-year-old son, Rome Valentin Chmerkovskiy, became ill enough to require hospital care. Jenna initially told followers that Rome was feeling under the weather. Hours later, she shared a much more alarming image: her little boy lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask covering his face. Us
Val shared another glimpse from inside the hospital. It showed Jenna holding and comforting Rome in bed.
His caption was brief: “Sunday Funday as a parent.” Us
Behind the humor was an obviously frightening family moment — one unfolding right in the middle of an already demanding DWTS season.
His parents have not revealed what caused the latest emergency
The photograph naturally prompted questions about what had happened.
So far, however, Jenna and Val have not publicly disclosed a diagnosis for this latest hospital visit. Reports published after their posts described the medical problem as undisclosed. Us
That makes it important not to assume that Rome was suffering from the same condition involved in an earlier emergency.
What is known is that he needed hospital attention and was photographed receiving oxygen.
And unfortunately, this was not the first time his parents had found themselves beside their little boy in an emergency room.
A remarkably similar photograph appeared one year earlier
In October 2025, when Rome was 2, Jenna revealed that he had spent a night in the hospital following another health scare.
The photographs were eerily similar.
Rome was again shown with an oxygen mask.
Jenna was beside him.
Val was nearby.
At the time, however, Jenna quickly reassured frightened followers that her son had returned home and was sleeping. E! Online
She also publicly praised her husband for the way he handled the emergency.
Jenna called Val their “absolute rock” and the calm presence during a terrifying night, noting that he never complained about his own exhaustion despite having professional commitments waiting for him. Parade
It offered an unusually intimate glimpse behind the polished ballroom image audiences normally see.
Rome has previously experienced a frightening breathing episode
There was another medical emergency even earlier.
In May 2024, when Rome was still a baby, Jenna described a terrifying episode involving croup, an illness that can cause swelling around a young child’s airway and produce a distinctive barking cough.
During that incident, his breathing became concerning enough that paramedics were called and he was taken by ambulance for medical attention. Recent coverage of his latest hospitalization has recalled that earlier croup episode. The US Sun
For Jenna and Val, therefore, the latest hospital visit brought back a situation they’d already experienced more than once.
Rome is their only child
Rome was born in January 2023 after Jenna had openly discussed the couple’s difficult journey toward becoming parents.
They waited several weeks before publicly revealing his full name and face.
When Jenna finally introduced him, she wrote about how completely motherhood had changed her understanding of love. ABC reported that the couple named him Rome Valentin Chmerkovskiy, incorporating his father’s name into his own. ABC News
Since then, fans have occasionally watched him grow up alongside two of the most recognizable professional dancers associated with DWTS.
And late last year, he even joined the family business — at least for one adorable television appearance.
At 2, Rome made his ballroom debut
In December 2025, Rome appeared alongside his parents during the Dancing With the Holidays special.
The toddler joined Jenna and Val during a routine set to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”
Dressed in a tiny burgundy vest and matching trousers, he began the number sitting on a couch beside his parents before becoming part of the performance. E! Online
For longtime viewers who had followed Jenna and Val from dancing partners to husband and wife and eventually parents, seeing all three together was a particularly sweet full-circle moment.
The RARE PHOTOS of Rome with his parents through his first three years show just how thoroughly parenthood has changed their lives.
Jenna and Val actually met because of Dancing With the Stars
Their family story began on the same show that currently makes their schedules so demanding.
Jenna joined the DWTS troupe in 2014, while Val was already an established professional dancer on the series.
Their relationship developed over the following years.
They became engaged in Venice in June 2018 and married in California in April 2019.
Then came Rome.
Today, both parents remain deeply involved with DWTS — and the timing of their son’s latest health scare couldn’t have been much more stressful professionally.
Both parents are competing during Season 35
Season 35 premiered in September 2026 with both Jenna and Val partnered with celebrities.
Val is dancing with actress Jenna Dewan, while Jenna Johnson is paired with Glee and Grey’s Anatomy actor Harry Shum Jr. People.com
That means rehearsals, live television and parenting are all colliding at once.
Just days before Rome’s hospitalization, Jenna Johnson and Harry had attracted considerable attention for their emotional Viennese waltz to the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”
Then the weekend arrived, and ballroom scores suddenly became considerably less important.
Instead of rehearsal photographs, Jenna was sharing an image from her son’s hospital room.
Val knows what it feels like to end up in a hospital during DWTS, too
Strangely enough, 2026 has already brought another hospital scare to this family.
This time it involved Val himself.
During the Dancing With the Stars Live tour in March, Val became severely dizzy and ultimately went to the hospital after struggling with vertigo.
Doctors later diagnosed him with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. E! Online
Fortunately, the condition wasn’t the frightening neurological problem he initially feared.
But between Val’s hospitalization earlier this year and Rome’s latest emergency, the family has experienced an unusually stressful stretch.
The oxygen mask photograph understandably alarmed people
A photograph
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