Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik is not only light on his feet in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom, but also has the biggest heart.
Nedoroscik, 25, danced a jive with pro partner Rylee Arnold during the Tuesday, September 17, premiere, wearing a short-sleeved striped shirt with black trousers. (He also took off his signature glasses at the start of the number as he does for gymnastics meets.)
“Steve’s original jive shirt was a little long, so we had to cut the sleeve because I wanted it to be short-sleeved,” Arnold, 19, said in a Sunday, September 22, Instagram video. “So, Steve asked the costume people to let him keep what they cut off for who?”
Nedoroscik then confirmed that the fabric strips were “for [his] grandma.”
“She’s a big fan of the show,” he gushed. “It was kind of her dream that I was on it.”
Arnold then burst into tears, adding, “That’s so cute!”
During Tuesday’s episode, Nedoroscik and Arnold received a score of 21 out of 30 for their dance to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Ahead of the first week of competition, the Olympic bronze medalist exclusively told Us Weekly that he was excited to learn to dance from Arnold.
“I was so excited. She is an amazing dancer,” Nedoroscik told Us earlier this month. “I didn’t know who I was gonna get and I was looking at all the pros and I was like, ‘I really hope I get Rylee.’ So I was so excited I got Rylee.”
Dance, however, is quickly proving to be very different from his gymnastics training. (Nedoroscik is a pommel horse specialist.)
“I’m a very upper-body type of guy in gymnastics, so now I’m starting to use my legs,” he told Us. “It is different, but I think the approach is very similar. I’m learning a skill, putting in a routine, and then I’m gonna compete it. So I’m kind of just translating those skills I’ve picked up in gymnastics to the dance floor. I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Nedoroscik and Arnold will tackle a paso doble during Tuesday, September 24’s Oscars Night set to “Superman — Main Theme” by The City of Prague.
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.
