Everything seemed to be going well for Ryan Lochte on his debut dance on Dancing With The Stars , but when Carrie Ann Inaba was judging his dance with partner Cheryl Burke, Inaba began yelling at someone behind Lochte (the camera was pointed only at Inaba) and the show quickly cut to commercial. It seemed like someone wasn't behaving behind him, but what happened to Ryan Lochte on Dancing With The Stars? Update: a spokesperson for BBC Worldwide Productions, the DWTS distributor, released a statement to Bustle about what happened, stating, "Two individuals stormed the dance floor tonight and were immediately subdued and escorted out of the building. The matter is now being handled by the authorities."
Earlier: All you could see was Inaba’s face and the flash of a body run past the camera, and it was pretty scary. When the show came back from break, host Tom Bergeron said, “We are back! We had to go to break because we had a little incident. I would like to personally thank our security team for staying in shape.” He tried to make light of what happened, which appeared like someone may have rushed Lochte and Burke on stage, but that had to be intense. Us Weekly reported that two Lochte protesters rushed the stage before security intervened and tackled them to the floor. Ryan Lochte's reps declined to comment.
When asked how he felt afterwards, Lochte said, “So many feelings are going through my head right now… I’m a little hurt. Um, but you know, I came out here, I wanted to do something that I’m completely not comfortable with, and I did, with a big smile, and I had the best dance partner.”
I don’t know why I have to say this out loud, but, if this is what happened, rushing the stage at Dancing With The Stars is not a good idea, folks. It seems like the person may have done so in protest or anger, rather than as a love-struck fan, because Len Goodman made a point afterwards to tell Lochte he would only be judged for his dancing on the show, not anything else. As you may know, Lochte is trying to prove to the world that he deserves a second chance after he "over-exaggerated" (his words) an incident, claiming he'd been robbed and held at gunpoint while in Rio, Brazil for the 2016 Olympic Games. On Dancing With The Stars, before any of this happened, he said, “My biggest regret is letting other people down, and now I want to prove to the world that I’ve changed.”
In a statement to People, DWTS pro Lindsay Arnold commented on the incident, giving more insight as to what happened.
"I was backstage and when I heard the commotion I ran to the side of the stage and I was just in shock. I couldn't believe it was happening. I think it's a shame that people would feel the need to do that. Ryan is just a guy who is coming here to entertain and get a fresh start and it's sad that such a happy night of dance was disrupted like that."
Inaba also later Instagrammed a photo thanking a DWTS security guard.
Overall, this was a scary moment that totally shifted the tone of the show — a usually fun and carefree two hours. Hopefully next week the viewers stay in their seats, but, luckily, the swift-moving security team ensured nothing bad happened to Lochte or anyone else on Monday night.
