A month ago, they shone brightly in the race to claim the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. They danced, they smiled, and they wept together in the race. Ultimately, they left the stage of Dancing with the Stars together, seeing off each other. Since then, 34 days have passed. Stephen Nedoroscik has now embraced his gymnastics life. The pommel horse virtuoso is looking forward to setting a gymnastic routine in his name. The other one, Riley Arnold, the gymnast’s dancing colleague on DWTS, is in her regular life, busy with her usual chores. Team Arnold Pommel, which once finished fourth in the 33rd season of DWTS, is in the pages of history now. But that may not mean the end of the duo’s bond. 

Nedoroscik and Arnold still remember each other. The professional engagement and the geographical distance may have kept them away from each other. Nonetheless, they have found a way to reminisce about the past days again. How? Here’s the moment. 

Stephen Nedoroscik finds a way to praise his coach 

“Rylee, you’re the best coach [emoji] Happy New Year,” Stephen Nedoroscik wrote on his Instagram story. In the late hours of December 31, Rylee Arnold shared an Instagram story, attaching a snapshot of her with Stephen from the DWTS ballroom. She added a few heartfelt lines in the post. Those lines read, “One of the best parts of my year was being your partner Steve [emoji]” Meanwhile, she sent her flowers for the Olympian, tagging his Instagram handle. “thank you for everything!!!!!” Rylee ended the text. Her former dance partner shared the post on his Instagram story and wrote those praising lines. Perhaps it was the millionth time Stephen termed her the best coach. In the two-month-long dance reality show, the fans saw him molding himself as a dancer. And all the time, Rylee was the known face alongside him, fixing his errors in steps. 

Remember the first introductory red carpet of DWTS? That evening, Nedoroscik looked relieved, giving Rylee the teaching responsibility. The coaching responsibility, maybe! In the next few weeks, he survived every challenge on the stage and in the back room. Credit goes to Rylee’s tips. In the contest, the pair saw ups and downs. Individually, Stephen had to go under the grind to shape himself. After all, he wasn’t a regular dancer. Fighting for the top prize in DWTS was never an easy path. In those moments, he had to be coached suitably. And the job doesn’t always come with a sugarcoat. Surely, Rylee became tough on him sometimes.

But Stephen Nedoroscik never complained. In the Squeeze podcast, he tried to paint his dancing partner’s picture once. He eventually said, “Rylee is an amazing person. Like both of us on a personal level, we get along so well. We are great friends. But she is a good coach, and she knows that sometimes it’s drill sergeant Riley time.” He even justified Riley Arnold’s seldom-made tough calls. “Sometimes you just need a coach who grabs your leg and says, ‘Do it right, or I’ll get mad,’” he said. However, disbelief regarding Rylee’s role in the entire setup never came to his mind. Nonetheless, what about Riley herself? She has been on the DWTS platform since 2023. Yet she experienced a few unique elements in the Worcester native. Those elements made her go gaga over him. Can you recall those elements? 

The victory over limitations brought the duo closer 

The Clark Kent of gymnastics or the Pommel horse guy—you can call Stephen Nedoroscik by any name. He doesn’t have any problem with that. Since the Paris Olympics, he has become habituated to hearing those titles. But deep down there, those titles don’t describe them perfectly. Stephen knows that those titles highlight his powerful side only. At the same time, the other side remains dark. It is like a coin only. But what is there on the other side? 

Well, Rylee Arnold had the chance to explore that. In the backroom, during the rehearsals, she witnessed Stephen, who said no to his eye complications and continued to topple the adversities. She had the opportunity to watch how the two-time Olympic medalist was shading his glasses only to perform on the stage. In the Paris Olympics, the world saw that but for minutes. But Rylee saw it for hours in the rehearsals for the DWTS performance. For someone who is living with type 1 diabetes, those scenes posed as inspiration. Rylee felt amazed to see those. In one moment, she shared her emotions: “Thank you for being the light in my life. Bringing so much positivity and kindness and you truly have healed me in so many ways and I am so grateful that you are my partner this season.” At the beginning of the new year, she did that once more. In the coming days, she might cherish those tales a few times more.