NEED TO KNOW
Rylee Arnold is getting candid about her shocking elimination from Dancing with the Stars on this week’s episode.
On Oct. 21, contestants took the stage for the reality TV show’s Wicked Night, with each couple performing a dance to songs from the hit movie musical Wicked.
Joined by guest judge and Wicked and Wicked: For Good director, Jon M. Chu, the pairs danced their way through the soundtrack.
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However, as a result of no elimination on the previous week’s Dedication Night episode, one couple went home this week. Unfortunately for Arnold and her celebrity partner, Scott Hoying, that couple was them.
After receiving scores of straight 7s from all of the judges, Arnold, 20, and Hoying, 34, were eliminated at the end of the episode.
During their post-show interview, Hoying told host Alfonso Ribeiro that “Rylee is my favorite person ever,” adding, “I had so much fun. It’s Wicked Night. It’s the perfect way to go.”
Rylee, for her part, said that she “couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
After the show, Arnold shared her feelings in an emotional TikTok as she addressed the elimination.
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“This morning I have a heavy heart for sure,” Arnold said, in a video titled ‘GRWM While I Talk About Last Night on DWTS 🥺🫶🏻’.
“I’m sad that my journey with Scott this season is over cause it was such an amazing season,” she added.
Arnold touched on her “gratitude” for being able to compete on the season and for being able to become friends with Hoying throughout the process.
“I was proud of the improvements he was making. I was proud that he was going out there and doing his thing and that’s all you can ask for,” she said of coaching Hoying. “His work ethic is insane. He would finish our four-hour rehearsals and he would go home and he would practice for hours.
“He would get the steps down and the next day I’d see him,” she said. “We’re not gonna have rehearsals this week, and our journey this season is over. And that’s definitely a tough pill to swallow.”
Elsewhere in the video, Arnold confirmed that she would be returning to Dancing with the Stars as a pro this season, continuing to perform in the opening number dances.
For his part, Hoying will remain busy, as tour dates for Pentatonix’s Christmas in the City Tour are set to kick off in West Valley City, Utah, on Nov. 8.
Speaking with Extra after the episode, Hoying addressed his exit, noting how it was always his intention to balance the tour with the dancing competition if he had made it to the next round.
“I was going to do both at the same time, which I had been stressing about and losing sleep over,” he admitted. “So, the silver lining is I can dive into that.”
