After an incredible run, 2024 Olympic double bronze medalist Stephen Nedoroscik and dance partner Rylee Arnold finished in fourth place at the conclusion of the 33rd season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on Tuesday evening.
During the finale each of the five remaining dance couples had to perform a redemption dance picked by one of the three judges, followed by a free dance later in the evening. Nedoroscik and Arnold collected 29 out of 30 for their quick-step redemption dance selected by judge Bruno Tonioli.
“You were riding in top gear: fast, smooth, clear in your timing, you turned it into a Rolex,” Tonioli said after the quick-step dance which the duo performed to ‘I’ll Be There For You’ by the Rembrandts.
“Len Goodman would have been smiling, from ear to ear,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba said. Len Goodman was a former DWTS judge who the mirror bowl trophy was named for after his passing last year. “But my comment to you is that this is the best I’ve ever seen you! You were right on top, every movement was perfect, beautiful quick step,” Inaba added.
Judge Derek Hough also had only complimentary comments after the first dance: “You are like a burst of sunshine, like two anti-depressants dancing across the floor, just radiating joy with every dance step out there.”
Predictably, Nedoroscik and Arnold chose a gymnastics free style dance for their second performance which was composed of a combination of gymnastics flips, circles, handstands and dance, and was well received by the audience and the judges.
“Stephen is going for gold,” Tonioli said in the critique after. “What I loved about it, it was athletic and artistic at the same time, a perfect combination. Extremely lyrical movements, very emotional, beautifully blended, I really liked the song,” he added. The duo’s free style was performed to Cold Play’s Viva la Vida.
“Watching you become a dancer and now Rylee you are a gymnast, what is going on, touched all of the perfect points,” Inaba commented for their second performance.
“I remember watching you on TV during the Olympics and saying man, he would be great at Dancing with the Starts, and here you are in the finale with that incredible free style. The song, the concept, the choreography the team effort, I loved it, I loved it!,” Hough commented.
The couple received a perfect 30 out of 30 for their free style. But combined with scores from their previous performances and the fans’ votes, Nedoroscik and Arnold ranked fourth. It is Arnold’s best finish only in her second season as a professional dancer on the show. “I mean, I just appreciate everything Rylee’s done. I am not good at dance, and not a natural dancer, but she has made me do what she has got me to do. Just amazing, and I really appreciate her,” Nedoroscik commented about his partner at the end.
The mirror bowl trophy was won by Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, while the couple that finished in second place was Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten. Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong finished third, while Danny Amendola and Witney Carson were fifth behind Nedoroscik and Arnold.
Nedoroscik is the first male gymnast contestant on the Dancing with the Stars. Seven female gymnasts have participated previously: Shawn Jonson 2009, Aly Raisman 2013, Nastia Liukin 2015, Laurie Hernandez 2016, Simone Biles 2017, Mary Lou Retton 2018 and Suni Lee 2021, with Johnson and Hernandez being victorious in their respective seasons.
Nedoroscik, a Worcester, Massachusetts, native who turned 26 on October 28, won the 2021 world title and four consecutive U.S. national titles on pommel horse from 2021-24. In 2020 he earned a degree in electrical engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, where he won the NCAA pommel horse title in 2017 and 2018. He claimed bronze medals on pommel horse and in the team final at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
