Jordan Chiles kept her Dancing With the Stars casting a secret, but she had to share the news with one fellow Olympic gymnast.
“I was like, if they told me, it’s a secret. I can’t tell anybody. I’m not telling anybody,” Chiles, 24, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 3, after the complete season 34 cast was announced. “I told Laurie [Hernandez] a few weeks ago, because I just [had] seen her in person. I was like, ‘Oh, she’s going to love this, because she’s a remarkable person, and I love her so much.’”
In addition to being an Olympic gold medal-winning former member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, Hernandez, 25, is also a DWTS alum. She competed on season 23 with pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy in 2016, and the pair went on to win the mirrorball trophy. Hernandez was 16 years old at the time, making her the show’s youngest winner.
Chiles is set to dance with pro Ezra Sosa for season 34. Her participation in the competition comes more than one year after the Paris Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the women’s team all-around. Chiles was also awarded a bronze medal in the women’s individual floor exercise, but she was later stripped of the accolade due to a controversial scoring appeal.
Romania’s Ana Bărbosu was initially set to come in third place during the exercise, but Chiles’ coach, Cecile Landi, raised an inquiry about the U.S. gymnast’s score. The judges increased Chiles’ score by one-tenth of a point, moving her into third place and bumping Bărbosu, 19, into fourth.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), arguing that Landi, 45, submitted her appeal four seconds after the allotted one-minute window.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ultimately sided with Bărbosu, giving the medal to the Romanian athlete. However, Chiles and her legal team have continued to fight the decision. Her reps filed two appeals in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, most recently in September 2024.
Additionally, USA Gymnastics filed an appeal asking the court to require CAS to re-open the case and look at audio and video evidence obtained by Netflix camera crews, who were in Paris filming Simone Biles’ docuseries, Rising. The footage allegedly shows that Landi did not file her appeal too late.
Chiles reflected on the controversy on the one-year anniversary of the women’s individual floor exercise via Instagram in August.
“A year ago today I walked off the floor in Paris with a bronze medal — and lessons I’ll carry with me for life,” she wrote. “The hardest moments really do teach you the most. This year had its highs, but the lows hit different.”
She continued, “Every setback and every disappointment made me dig deeper and showed me what I’m truly made of. It also showed me who’s really in my corner. Even when something’s taken from you- your truth and your worth is … Untouchable.”
Chiles also thanked those who “held me down this past year, who sent prayers, messages, and love when I needed it most.”
Team USA allegedly has “video evidence” that gymnast Jordan Chiles should keep her medal amid controversy at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds […]
“You reminded me I’m never on this journey alone. I love y’all for real. You kept me standing when I didn’t even know how to take the next step,” she concluded. “Still here. Still fighting. Still that girl.”
While speaking to Us, Chiles revealed how competing in the Olympics helped prepare her for DWTS.
“I feel like competing on the biggest World Stage is basically comparable to dancing in front of people,” she explained. “I think it’s more of an expectation, rather than, like, a fear or a nerve, because it’s really being able to showcase something and performing. So I perform all the time, but I feel like it’s going to be different in a way.”
Dancing With the Stars season 34 premieres on ABC and Disney+ September 16 at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.
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