Dancing With the Stars fans are smitten with NFL alum Danny Amendola, but he’s keeping his eyes on the prize.
“I ignore the noise,” Amendola, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly after the Tuesday, September 24, episode when asked about the copious thirst tweets reacting to his performances on the show. “I do not fuel or believe the hype. And I’m just worried about dancing. That’s it.”
Amendola and his partner, Witney Carson, have impressed the judges thus far, earning a 21 out of 30 on Tuesday and a 20 out of 30 during the season 33 premiere last week. Judge Bruno Tonioli even took a moment to whisper some praise to the retired athlete after his Jive on Tuesday.
“He said, ‘You killed it, man.’ That’s it,” Amendola told Us of Tonioli’s comment. “Bruno’s the man.”
As Amendola stays focused on the competition, he’s also subtly shutting down speculation that he and DJ Xandra Pohl, who was in the DWTS audience last week, are romantically involved.
“She’s a great friend, great person,” Amendola told Us of Pohl, 23. “I’m a huge fan of what she does and [have] a lot of respect for her.”
Carson, 30, then teasingly suggested that the pair celebrated together after the premiere episode.
“You guys went to dinner, no?” she asked. Amendola, however, didn’t take the bait.
“No we didn’t, no we didn’t,” he insisted. “She’s just a great friend.”
The former wide receiver has enough on his plate without romance rumors. Amendola exclusively told Us last week that his “joints are so much more sore” from DWTS than they were in his NFL days.
“We’re playing on grass, so it’s a little softer. The hardwood is, like, I’m icing up,” he explained. “I’m definitely feeling the age at this point. But it’s fun to get out there, sweat and have fun.”
Amendola, who played for numerous teams throughout his NFL career, including the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2017, also praised his partner.
“She’s a boss,” he said of Carson. “I have plenty of room for improvement. We’re going to try to get better next week.”
Amendola and Danny tied with Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy and Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten on Tuesday. The three duos scored only three points lower than the winners of the night, Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong. Tori Spelling and Pasha Pashkov and Anna Delvey and Ezra Sosa were eliminated at the end of Tuesday’s double elimination.
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream episodes on Disney+ the next day. There will be no new episode on Tuesday, October 1.
With reporting by Carly Konsker
