The night that Stephen Nedoroscik and his Dancing With the Stars partner Rylee Arnold had been working towards finally arrived. The duo started the night with a redemption dance and then a quickstep, which had previously been one of their weaker performance styles. However, this time, they changed that! Rylee and Stephen nailed their routine!

The judges were gleaming through their performance. Bruno Tonioli even went on to call the performance “top gear.” Meanwhile, Carrie Ann Inaba had tears in her eyes and went on to say it was “the best performance” she had seen from him. Derek Hough called them a “burst of sunshine.” The duo went on to score two 10s and one 9, putting them in a strong position. Then came the perils of freestyle!

Rylee and Stephen brought a blend of gymnastics and dance. Stephen incorporated flips, handstands, and lifts that left the world in awe. Despite getting a 30 from the judges, the joy of the moment was ephemeral. As the final votes came in, Nedoroscik and Arnold were unfortunately at the bottom, in fourth place. As the Mirrorball trophy slipped away, Stephen and Rylee were not the only ones grieving!

Gabby Thomas’ and her unconditional support for fellow Olympians

As the trophy slipped past Stephen and Rylee, another Olympian who won the 200m gold was heartbroken. After the finale, Gabby Thomas took to X to post a heartfelt message. “Crying watching @TeamUSA on @officialdwts!!! So proud of Stephen and Ilona 🥹👏🏽,” she wrote. Gabby and Stephen have an unlikely friendship that did not just blossom at the Olympics.

Stephen Nedoroscik and Gabby Thomas have even been on Andy Cohen’s show together to celebrate their medal. However, Stephen was not the only one Gabby appreciated. Ilona Maher, who is also an Olympic bronze medalist, was one of the finalists on this season of DWTS. Unfortunately, she did not win either. So, what happened with Ilona’s performance? Ilona and Alan had a brilliant freestyle routine that got them perfect scores. Then came the curveball.

However, Ilona’s final ranking was largely a result of the audience vote. While the judges were all praise, with Carrie Ann Inaba calling her performance “empowering,” the audience felt otherwise. The judge’s score wasn’t enough to get her the win. Ilona slipped to fourth in the rankings earlier in the night after scoring three nines in the redemption round, and the gap was too much to overcome. Ilona went on to finish second. Nevertheless, it was a great run. As Gabby rightly puts it, “So proud.” 

One thing is clear from Gabby’s reaction.  Win or lose, Gabby Thomas understands the effort it takes to get this far in a field that is not their specialty. But that’s not all! While Stephen Nedoroscik may not have won the Mirrorball Trophy, he certainly isn’t leaving empty-handed.

Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold leave satisfied as they exceed their expectations!

Stephen Nedoroscik has had a transformational experience at DWTS. While the world first noticed him for the Clark Kent looks, the personas that came after were just as great. With each episode of DWTS, Stephen and Rylee unmasked a new layer of the “pommel horse” man. In fact, Stephen went on to admit, “I thought I was going to get eliminated early because I just had never danced. I didn’t know—I didn’t know I could do the things that I’ve done. And it’s all thanks to Rylee, honestly.” And why wouldn’t he think that the two had an unfortunate start?

In the first episode, Stephen and Rylee Arnold tried Jive to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. The two ended up getting seven from the judges. However, coming to the semi-finals, the two did Tango to “Sweet Disposition” and scored two nines as well as a 10. Talk about growth! It was this growth that brought them all the way to the finals! So, what does Rylee think of the journey?

And as Rylee sees it, “It’s truly been a dream come true. This whole season has just been so fulfilling and awesome…Like, every single day… and it just gets more fun every day. That’s so rare to find.” Stephen and Rylee, apart from their learnings, are also walking away with a friendship the two have built. The same friendship that helped them put across chemistry on stage and pushed them to the finals!

While the two might not have won the trophy, they are leaving rather happy and satisfied with how far they have come. The satisfaction comes from having made it so far in the competition despite not being dancers. Additionally, Stephen got a chance to bring men’s gymnastics to a new audience; he also got a chance to explore a new side of himself and even found new ways to deal with his eyesight issues. So overall, the DWTS has been a satisfying experience for Stephen Nedoroscik in terms of growth. And it is, perhaps, this feeling of satisfaction that pushed Gabby Thomas to appreciate the athletes on DWTS!