Rylee Arnold is speaking out after rumors spread online that she will be dropped from the Dancing With the Stars‘ Season 35 pro lineup.
Last month, a source claimed to The U.S. Sun that Arnold and Season 34 newcomer Jan Ravnik were on the “chopping block” and had been instructed to step up their game with teaching their respective celebrity contestants, Scott Hoying and Jen Affleck.
Former DWTS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy shared similar critiques to the outlet’s source, stating on The Penthouse with Peta podcast last month that he thought Hoying was “completely undertaught” during his time on DWTS, which led to his and Arnold’s elimination in Week 6.
“I believe that this is a matter of experience for Rylee to understand that, in this case, he needed her to be facing him, looking at him, and making him learn and making him repeat and place his hands,” Chmerkovskiy stated. “Rylee, where she comes from, knows what cleaning means. So, they didn’t have time to clean, then you spend too much time over-choreographing the situation.”
Arnold brought up the criticism during the Wednesday, November 19, episode of Julianne Hough‘s The Morning After (Show) podcast. “I definitely feel pressure. I think every single dance, I’m like, ‘This has to be good,’ and I feel like I have to present myself,” she shared. “There’s been a lot of just things this year, people saying that I’m not coming back next season, and I’m not gonna be asked back, or people saying that I don’t know how to teach or I don’t know how to do these things. I think I’m trying to just understand that that’s just noise.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
Arnold noted that she and her fellow DWTS pros don’t know if they will be asked back for new seasons until the summertime. “I would absolutely love to do another season, if not a bunch of more seasons in my life, if they want me there,” she said. “And so, I think hearing that noise from sources that probably aren’t even true is super, super hard and was super hard on me this season.”
Despite the rumors, Arnold said she is working on giving herself grace. “There are so many pros that have been here for way longer than I have, and of course, they know more than I do. Of course, they have way more experience than I have, which is so normal,” she told Hough. “And I think just understanding that not comparing myself, either, and just staying in my lane, doing the very best I can, and I think that’s the most important part.”
Hough was able to relate to Arnold’s struggles, as she herself joined DWTS as a pro at a young age. Hough was 18 when she made her debut on the ABC series for Season 4 in 2007. Arnold was also 18 when she became a DWTS pro for Season 32 in 2023.
“Coming from someone who really sees you, you are so talented,” Hough gushed. “You are gifted. You are a great choreographer, and you deserve to be on this show. And they are very lucky to have you.”
Thanking Hough, Arnold went on to add, “I just always try to remember that I am living a dream that I’ve had since I was a little girl, and I’m so grateful that I’m in the position that I’m in. And just to remember that that’s what matters, and my joy and how I go through this season is everything to me. And I’m gonna look back one day, and I’m not gonna focus on what other people have said. I’m gonna focus on the fact that I was so genuinely happy in this moment and just proud of what I was doing.”
Dancing With the Stars, Season 34, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+ (Streaming Next Day on Hulu)
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