"Very cowardly and scared dancer"- Stephen Nedoroscik opens up on contemplating over making an appearance in DWTS after the Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Nov 10, 2024 03:36 GMT

Stephen Nedoroscik has impressed with his performances at the 33rd season of the dance reality show, 'Dancing with the Stars'. However, the gymnast wasn't sure about his dancing skills when he was offered to join the show.

Recently, during a podcast with host Josh Scherer from the Youtube channel 'Mythical Kitchen', the double Olympic medalist talked at length about his thoughts over making an appearance on 'Dancing with the Stars'. When the host talked about the public assumption that Nedoroscik would be a good dancer because of his gymnastic skills, he replied,

"Well, those people would be very wrong. I'm a very cowardly and scared dancer. Uh, but like, you know I never would have imagined I'd be watched by millions of people dancing. Seriously, not in a million years would I have thought I found myself in these situations."

Stephen Nedoroscik had received an offer of joining 'Dancing with the Stars' midway through the Paris Olympics when the team all-around event had been concluded, and he was preparing for the pommel horse event. In a podcast with Joe Vulpis, broadcasted in early October, Nedoroscik mentioned,

"I had to focus on you know, like 'Oh my gosh!' Like I need to get an agent you know, I'm getting calls about these deals and stuff, and I was like it was like so much, it was like overwhelming um, but like we got it all figured out, and I was like heck yeah, we're doing this Dancing with the Stars."

Stephen Nedoroscik is currently in the top six in the 33rd season of 'Dancing with the Stars,' alongside his dancing partner Rylee Arnold. He will aim to make it to the final five as the next session commences on November 12.

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Stephen Nedoroscik on having no dancing experience

Stephen Nedoroscik with dance partner Rylee Arnold [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source : Getty]

Stephen Nedoroscik has been vocal about his initial hesitation in joining 'Dancing with the Stars'. At the talk show titled 'Live Kelly and Mark', the 26-year-old gymnast talked about how he had no experience in dancing. In his words,

"“For the last eight years or so, these legs have done nothing."

When asked about what was more nerve-wracking between dancing and gymnastics, Nedoroscik replied,

"Amazingly, they are quite similar. It is obviously more nerve wracking when you have people relying on you to get a team medal, but like you know, I don't know how good I am at dance, I don't know how people are going to perceive it, so there is that nervous factor, and it's like 'Oh man, this is all new to me, I might mess it up.' "

However, Nedoroscik eventually overcame his hesitation to participate in 'Dancing with the Stars', and credited his dance partner, Rylee Arnold. In his podcast session with Joe Vulpis, Nedoroscik mentioned,

"I'm so lucky cause I got Rylee paired at me, and we have like very similar energy, so like immediately I was a little embarassed, cause I wan't picking up on the steps very fast, but like she saw how motivated I was, and like I was like if I'm doing this, I'm going all out...So like that's what I've been doing and I've been getting compliments from all around, and that alone just chips away those insecurities."

Stephen Nedoroscik was initially all set to join the second season of the Simone Biles-led 'Gold over America Tour' after the Paris Olympics. However, after he was offered to join the 33rd season of 'Dancing with the Stars', he chose the latter, and the rest, as they say, is history.