How Many Times Has 'DWTS' Janelskiy Almost Kissed?

It's been a rocky road for Janelskiy on Dancing with the Stars — well, not when it comes to their dancing, but definitely when it comes to their potential romance. Janel Parrish and Val Chmerkovskiy are DWTS Season 19's Maksyl, at least, that's what they're modeling their run after. From Week 1, Janelskiy fueled dating rumors with their super-close, super-romantic turns on the dance floor and in practices. And since Parrish recently broke up with her boyfriend, it seems like a good a time as ever for to really start shipping them. So, now that this new DWTS romance is ready for lift-off, we obviously have to look at how it's progressed, starting with this question: How many times have Janel and Val almost kissed on DWTS ?

I've had weird feelings about Janelskiy since Season 19 began — mostly because I couldn't tell whether or not they were doing it all for the cameras or not. I mean, it'd make perfect sense, especially if Val took advice from his brother Maks. Maks and Meryl had a perfect season because, obviously, they are both wildly talented, but also because they really went for it in the romance department. If you think you didn't tune into DWTS Season 18 just to see Maksyl's performances and oogle over their chemistry, you're lying to yourself because you totally did. But anyway, Janel and Val jumped into their showmance right away and it naturally made me question their motives — were they toying with fans' emotions just for support? I'm still not entirely sure, but now that Janel's a single lady, we'll soon find out whether or not their feelings are real.

What's not real, however, is Janel and Val's kissing. Yes, Val kisses her on the forehead, like, all of the time. But the pair have almost kissed more times than you can count on two hands. And that's only in eight weeks of competition. (Technically seven — the week Janel danced with Artem doesn't count.)

So, will Janelskiy make it official when they win the Mirror Ball — as in, officially kiss onscreen for the world to see? Let's take a look at how many times the pair has almost kissed in Season 19.

Week 1: A Slow Start

Almost Kiss Count (AKC): 1

Obviously Janel and Val had just started to get to know one another and, even though they were clearly headed to showmance territory, they tried to take it slow. At least they tried to keep things realistic for us at the beginning.

Week 2: Heating Up

AKC: 2

In their second dance — a waltz to "Call Me Maybe" that paid homage to A Cinderella Story (classic) — Janel and Val doubled their almost kiss-number from Week 1. They were feeling the flow, it felt natural, they went for it.

Week 3: Taking Criticism To Heart

AKC: 1

I feel like it was around this time that DWTS fans started questioning their intentions, which I'm sure made them a little paranoid. Could they get voted off for going too far? They dropped back down to their first almost kiss number in this dance. This was also a West Side Story number that really didn't allot for intimate moments — just saying.

Week 4: Going Way Overboard

AKC: 6

At this point, I feel like Janel and Val decided they DGAF about what people were saying about them and they were going to run with their romance anyway.

Week 6: Feeling Disconnected

AKC: 2

Oy — after Janel's Week 5 sexy burlesque dance with Artem during the Partner Swap, things kind of fell off for DWTS' most romantic couple. Sure, their performance was pretty sexy (I mean, Val went shirtless), but it didn't have that gravitational pull between them like their earlier performances did.

Week 7: Starting From Scratch

AKC: 0

I'm forced to assume that Val took Janel's dance with Artem to heart here because there's no explanation for this. OK, fine, there is an explanation — this week's dance was to the Pretty Little Liars theme song (at Janel's request). So, it wasn't really a sexy partner-dance, more of a "Janel as a sexy murderer" dance. It's also possible that the fact that Janel "killed" Val at the end of the performance might've had something to do with the lack of romance. But that's just a guess.

Week 8: Off The Charts JSDHFKJDSHFKDS

AKC: 9

THEY'RE BAAAACK. Last Monday's DWTS performance was the most romantic, sexy, and almost-kissing to date for Janelskiy. Maybe they're finally done feeling indignant about Janel's week with Artem. Either way, this couple is only going up from here and they want us all to know it.

Total Almost Kisses Thus Far: 21

And, obviously, they're just going to keep on coming. Can Janelskiy get to 50 by the time they win Season 19 and have to kiss for real? Absolutely.

Images: Dancing With The Stars/Facebook; valchmerkovskiyedits/Tumblr