The Dancing With the Stars star Gleb Savchenko has denied claims that he is hiding his teenage daughter from her mother, Elena Samodanova. The 42-year-old dancer insists that “Olivia is safe, she is not being hidden, and I am not avoiding authorities.”
Gleb Savchenko says Olivia remains in contact with her mother, Elena Samodanova
According to TMZ, Gleb addressed the claims after new court documents revealed that Elena had asked authorities to help locate him and their 15-year-old daughter, Olivia Savchenko, in Los Angeles.
“There is a lot of context missing from what has been alleged,” Gleb said. He explained that the situation is part of an ongoing family court matter involving custody and where the children should live. Then he added that he is handling the matter through his attorneys. “My priority throughout all of this has been and continues to be the well-being of my children,” Gleb said.
The DWTS star also denied the suggestion, saying, “Any suggestion that I have abducted my daughter or am hiding her is not an accurate characterization of the situation.”
The comments came after Elena claimed in new court documents that she did not know where Gleb and Olivia were staying in Los Angeles. She said Olivia’s Hong Kong phone was no longer active and that Gleb had not given her Olivia’s new number. As a result, she could only reach Olivia through Instagram and had asked authorities to help locate them.
However, Gleb addressed the issue of Olivia’s phone, saying she is nearly 16 and remains in communication with her mother. “I have not prevented her from communicating with her mother,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elena wants Olivia to return to Hong Kong. According to her, Olivia never returned to Hong Kong even if Gleb had agreed to the return date.
Gleb has previously said Olivia wants to stay with him and attend school in Los Angeles. He is seeking temporary custody of their daughter. He has claimed Elena is trying to keep Olivia and their younger daughter, Zlata, in Hong Kong against his wishes. Their next hearing is on August 18.
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Originally reported by Deepshikha Sarkar on Mandatory
