TV Shows
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Family Rallies Around Rising Pro After Off-Screen Drama
The ‘DWTS’ family has one pro’s back when drama unfolded off camera after the latest episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.’
During Week 7 of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, Rylee Arnold was partnered with contestant AJ Pritchard for one performance. After rehearsals, Arnold admitted she had some concerns about Pritchard. Since the episode aired, some drama has developed off-screen. Now, Arnold’s colleagues are coming to her defense, as are many DWTS fans.
As viewers saw during the episode that aired on August 24, after the rehearsals, the pros and judges discussed how things had gone. Of Pritchard, Arnold said, “At the beginning, I felt that lightheartedness, but I will say, he’s kind of intense.” She added, “I don’t know if he’s going to be able to give affirmation to somebody. It was just constant critique.”
Pritchard’s fiancée, British reality TV alum Zara Zoffany, wasn’t happy with what Arnold said. In a TikTok comment, which she also shared in a now-expired Instagram Story, she wrote that Pritchard “wouldn’t have had to critique you in the first place if everything had been right.”
A screenshot of the Instagram Story was also shared on Reddit, and it did not take long for significant pushback against Zoffany’s comments to begin.
Zoffany also wrote, “What people didn’t see in rehearsals was that you injured him when you hit him in the head, leaving him with a slight concussion…somehow, because you’re a pro, that wasn’t included in the edit.”
“AJ’s criticism has always been constructive, and he wouldn’t have needed to give it if something hadn’t been wrong. I hope you were able to take something positive and useful from his teaching and feedback,” she insisted.
Dancing with the Stars fans on Reddit noted that Pritchard “liked” the post his fiancée made.
One Redditor commented, “Seriously how many bridges did they just burn with this comment?” The same poster added, “It’s so unprofessional and so disrespectful to act this way toward someone who was a potential colleague and insulting her is just crazy.”
It did not take long for Arnold’s Dancing with the Stars family to catch wind of Zoffany’s commentary.
As Us Weekly noted, fellow pro Ezra Sosa replied, “I usually stay out of stuff like this, but this genuinely made me sick to my stomach. Rylee is my best friend, I love her and I will speak up for her.”
Sosa continued, “Rylee is more than qualified to be a pro…AJ is allowed to give feedback and Rylee is allowed to be honest about how that feedback felt to her. Both can exist.”
He also shared, “Watching a woman go out of her way to publicly question another woman’s qualifications and tear her down like this is so sad to see.”
Reddit users also caught that fellow pro Jan Ravnik, who was also involved in that particular episode of The Next Pro, added a reply online as well. He tagged Zoffany and wrote, “‘injured him’? God bless!!” He inserted several cry-laughing emojis into his response, as well.
Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro judge Shirley Ballas also had Arnold’s back. In the comment section of one of Ballas’ latest Instagram posts, a fan asked what she thought about Zoffany’s comments. Ballas replied, “@ryleearnold1 has earned her place on dwts through hard work. Dedicating her time to all styles”
Ballas continued, “I have a lot of respect for her. Shame others do not.”
The finale for the series airs on Monday, August 31, and the winner will be one of the Season 35 pros on Dancing with the Stars this fall. Zoffany’s commentary won’t impact the show’s outcome. However, they have clearly rubbed a lot of Dancing with the Stars fans and pros the wrong way.
