Emma Slater Ex Husband: Why Did She and Sasha Farber Divorce?

Emma Slater and Sasha Farber spent years as one of the most familiar couples in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom. They danced together, dated for years, became engaged live on television and eventually married. Their relationship did not last forever, but their story took an unusual turn after divorce. Instead of becoming distant exes, Slater and Farber managed to build a friendship and continue working alongside each other.

For anyone searching “Emma Slater ex husband,” Sasha Farber is the Australian-American professional dancer she married in 2018. They separated in 2022, Slater filed for divorce in 2023, and their marriage officially came to an end later. Slater has explained that their different timelines around having children played an important role in the decision.

Years after their breakup, the former couple can now joke publicly about their marriage. A viral TikTok featuring the two playfully discussing Farber being her “attractive” ex-husband showed just how much their relationship has changed.

Slater has made it clear that she has healed and moved forward. She has also found a new relationship with fellow DWTS professional Alan Bersten, while Farber has publicly shown support for her happiness.

Who Is Emma Slater’s Ex-Husband?

Emma Slater’s ex-husband is Sasha Farber, a professional ballroom dancer and choreographer best known for Dancing with the Stars.

Farber was born in Belarus and raised in Australia after his family moved there when he was young. Dance became a major part of his life early on, eventually taking him into competitive ballroom dancing and professional performances.

His career later brought him to the United States and the DWTS ballroom.

Slater followed a somewhat similar professional path. Born in England, she began dancing at a young age and developed extensive experience before becoming a recognizable television professional.

Their shared profession brought them into the same world, and over time their working connection became romantic.

The fact that both understood the unusual lifestyle of professional dancers helped shape their relationship. Long rehearsals, tours, television schedules and physically demanding performances were normal for both of them.

How Emma Slater and Sasha Farber’s Relationship Began

Slater and Farber knew each other through the professional dance world before becoming husband and wife.

Their romantic relationship began years before their wedding, although it was not always straightforward.

Like many long-term couples, they experienced different stages and even spent time apart before eventually getting engaged.

Their professional lives remained closely connected through Dancing with the Stars.

That made their romance especially visible to fans of the program. Viewers were not simply hearing about two dancers dating away from work. They were watching both of them perform season after season.

Eventually, Farber decided to make one of their biggest relationship moments part of the show itself.

Sasha Proposed to Emma on Dancing with the Stars

Their engagement became one of the most memorable personal moments to happen inside the DWTS ballroom.

In October 2016, Farber proposed to Slater during a live episode.

The moment came after they performed together.

Farber got down on one knee and asked Slater to marry him in front of the audience, fellow cast members and television viewers.

She said yes.

It was an unusually public beginning to their engagement, but it made sense for a couple whose professional and personal lives were so closely connected to dance.

Their DWTS colleagues immediately joined the celebration.

For fans who had followed the relationship, the proposal seemed like the natural next step for two people who had already shared years together.

Emma Slater and Sasha Farber Married in 2018

Slater and Farber married in March 2018.

Their wedding brought together family, friends and familiar faces from the Dancing with the Stars community.

By the time they married, their relationship was already well established.

Both continued appearing on DWTS after becoming husband and wife. Instead of one spouse stepping away from the ballroom, they maintained separate careers within the same television franchise.

That created an unusual working arrangement.

Each could be paired with another celebrity for an entire season while their spouse was working just a short distance away with someone else.

Professional ballroom dancing requires physical closeness, trust and chemistry between partners. Because both Slater and Farber understood that reality firsthand, they knew how to separate performance from marriage.

For several years, they appeared to make the arrangement work.

Why Did Emma Slater and Sasha Farber Split?

Slater and Farber separated in 2022.

At first, neither turned the breakup into a public blame game.

More context came later when Slater discussed the marriage during an appearance on The Viall Files podcast in 2023.

Her explanation centered heavily on children and timing.

Slater said she wanted children, but she was not ready to move into parenthood at the same pace as Farber.

She understood that he was ready for that stage of life and did not want to prevent him from pursuing it.

That distinction is important.

Slater did not say she never wanted to become a mother. Instead, she explained that she was still trying to understand when she would be ready for such a permanent decision.

For her, becoming a parent was not something she wanted to do simply because the timing worked for someone else.

The Decision About Children Became Important

Questions about having children can become one of the most difficult issues in a marriage because there is often no easy compromise.

Slater was clear that she took parenthood seriously.

She wanted children, but she did not feel comfortable entering that stage of life while uncertain about her own readiness.

At the same time, she respected Farber’s desire to become a father.

That left them facing two different timelines.

Rather than asking one person to wait indefinitely or the other to become a parent before feeling ready, they eventually moved in separate directions.

Slater has also emphasized that love was still present.

Their breakup therefore was not described as a situation where they suddenly stopped caring about each other.

Sometimes two people can love each other and still realize that their plans for the next stage of life are not lining up.

Emma Slater Filed for Divorce in 2023

After their 2022 separation, Slater filed for divorce in February 2023.

The filing made the end of their marriage official from a legal standpoint, but it did not end their professional connection.

Both remained associated with Dancing with the Stars.

That meant avoiding each other completely was neither realistic nor necessarily something they wanted.

They continued sharing professional spaces, interacting with mutual friends and supporting colleagues.

Over time, it became increasingly clear that they were finding a way to create a different kind of relationship.

They were no longer husband and wife, but they did not need to become enemies.

Emma and Sasha Stayed Friends After Their Divorce

Slater and Farber’s friendship after marriage has attracted almost as much attention as their breakup.

The former couple have repeatedly shown that they can spend time together without turning every interaction into a source of drama.

Their shared DWTS world undoubtedly gives them plenty of reasons to remain cordial, but their public interactions suggest something warmer than simple workplace politeness.

Slater has been open about believing exes can remain friends after healing and moving forward.

That became particularly obvious through a humorous TikTok she shared featuring Farber.

Instead of avoiding their romantic history, the two used it as the joke.

It was a small moment, but it showed how far they had moved beyond the emotionally difficult period surrounding their separation.

Their Viral Ex-Husband TikTok Explained

In the playful video, Farber mouthed a line telling Slater that her ex-husband was very attractive.

Slater responded by pointing out that he was, in fact, her ex-husband.

Farber then put on sunglasses and nodded, completing the joke.

The clip quickly attracted attention because divorced celebrity couples are rarely this comfortable making fun of their own history.

Slater also addressed viewers who might find their friendship difficult to understand.

She explained that she had healed and moved on, adding that exes can behave maturely and remain friends.

The message was fairly simple. Their marriage ended, but they do not have to dislike each other because of it.

Fans responded positively, with many praising the former couple for developing a friendship after realizing their marriage was no longer right for them.

They Still Work Together on DWTS

Dancing with the Stars remains the biggest professional connection between Slater and Farber.

Both have spent years working within the franchise, meaning they share colleagues, rehearsal spaces and many of the same major career experiences.

A divorce could easily have made that environment uncomfortable.

Instead, they continued finding ways to support each other professionally.

Their situation also reflects the unusually close nature of the DWTS cast.

Professional dancers spend months rehearsing, touring and performing together. Many friendships and romantic relationships have developed within that environment over the years.

For Slater and Farber, the ballroom was part of their relationship before marriage, during marriage and after divorce.

It is still something they share even though their personal lives have moved forward.

Emma Slater Moved On With Alan Bersten

Slater later found romance again within the Dancing with the Stars world.

Her relationship with fellow professional dancer Alan Bersten eventually became public.

Bersten had been part of the same wider DWTS community for years, so their relationship naturally attracted significant interest from fans.

Slater has publicly shown affection and support for him, including during his successful run with actress Elaine Hendrix in season 34.

When Bersten and Hendrix reached the finale, Slater celebrated the achievement and proudly referred to Bersten as her boyfriend.

The moment made it very clear that Slater had entered a new chapter romantically.

Perhaps more interesting was Farber’s reaction.

Sasha Farber Has Supported Emma’s New Relationship

Farber has shown public support for Slater and Bersten.

That detail gives additional context to Slater’s comments about healing and friendship after divorce.

Remaining friendly with an ex is one thing. Being comfortable seeing that person build a new romantic relationship can be much harder.

Yet Slater and Farber appear to have reached a place where each can continue moving forward without treating the other’s happiness as a threat.

Their friendship does not erase their marriage.

It simply means the marriage is no longer the relationship defining them today.

That distinction is something Slater has seemed particularly comfortable expressing.

Emma Slater’s Life Beyond Her Marriage

Although her relationship history attracts attention, Slater has built an impressive professional identity of her own.

She joined the Dancing with the Stars troupe before becoming a professional partner and eventually won the Mirrorball Trophy with NFL player Rashad Jennings.

Her career has included numerous celebrity partnerships and live tours.

Dance remains at the center of her professional life, just as it was before she married Farber.

That continuity is important because divorce did not require Slater to abandon the world where she and her ex-husband first built their careers.

Instead, she continued doing the work she loved while adjusting to a different personal reality.

Her relationship with Bersten represents another part of that evolution, but Slater’s identity remains larger than either marriage or romance.

Are Emma Slater and Sasha Farber Back Together?

There is no indication from the details shared that Slater and Farber have reunited romantically.

Their friendly interactions can sometimes create confusion because celebrity exes are often expected either to avoid one another or remain locked in conflict.

Slater has directly pushed back against that assumption.

She considers herself healed and moved on from the marriage.

Her relationship with Alan Bersten also makes her current romantic direction clear.

Farber, meanwhile, remains someone with whom she shares considerable history, professional connections and apparently genuine friendship.

Their jokes should therefore not automatically be interpreted as evidence of a reconciliation.

They seem comfortable being exes.

A Marriage That Became a Friendship

For anyone searching “Emma Slater ex husband,” Sasha Farber is much more than a name from her past.

They spent years together, shared a highly public engagement, married in 2018 and built careers within the same television franchise.

Their marriage ultimately reached a difficult point because their timelines for parenthood were not aligned.

Slater wanted children but was not ready to make that decision immediately. Farber was further along in wanting to become a parent. Rather than ignoring that difference, they eventually accepted that it mattered.

They separated in 2022, and Slater filed for divorce the following year.

What makes their story stand out is everything that happened afterward.

Instead of allowing the divorce to turn years of affection into resentment, they gradually created a friendship. They still work in the same professional world, joke about being exes and publicly support each other.

Slater has now moved forward with Alan Bersten, while Farber remains a friend and colleague.

Their relationship may not have ended the way either imagined when Farber proposed in the DWTS ballroom, but the years since have shown that divorce does not always require two people to erase each other from their lives.

Sometimes a marriage ends because two people need different things. For Emma Slater and Sasha Farber, the romantic chapter closed, but respect and friendship managed to survive.