For ‘Halloween Night’ at DWTS, Stephen Nedoroscik and his dance partner Rylee Arnold knew just what to present to send shivers down the audience’s spine. They danced a contemporary to ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’ by Hidden Citizens. The Olympic bronze medalist transformed himself into a monster of darkness. As the audience enjoyed his performance, the gymnast faced his own fears on the stage: Pitch black darkness.

Nedoroscik’s worst nightmare is pitch-black darkness. It originated from his eye condition, which makes it difficult to see without glasses. “Without my glasses, I have trouble seeing anything at all,” Nedoroscik said. “I have no depth perception, and I also have a genetic disorder, so any lights that are in my face, it’s super painful, and I usually can’t really see well at all.”

So when he stood on the stage ready to present his Halloween special performance, he was surrounded by the void and the creepy vibes intentionally set up.

But Nedoroscik and Arnold’s efforts were a hit with the judges. Their performance received a total of 28 and they also got their first 10 of the season. While all of this was going on, they waited with bated breath to know about their future on DWTS! After their stellar performance, the 26-year-old and his partner spoke to Access Hollywood about their night. The reporter questioned: “You had a little scary moment. You were one of the last names called that you were safe this week.”

“[Feeling] relieved more than anything, but also, I’m so proud of that performance. I think it’s the best that I ever did, that dance and it was just an amazing moment and I’d celebrate after like I would at a gymnastics competition because it felt like that to me,” the gymnast confessed.

But the interview took a fun turn when the host acknowledged that the Olympian’s birthday had just passed (October 28). When asked what Scorpio qualities the gymnast possessed, he hesitated for a moment. “I actually… I don’t really know what a Scorpio thing is,” he revealed. 

However, the host came prepared. As she listed all of the qualities, Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold couldn’t help but chuckle at the possibilities. In fact, one of the qualities caught the 26-year-old’s eye. “I’m independent too,” he exclaimed. His dance partner chimed in, saying he kind of was, to which the gymnast hilariously concluded, “I’m not independent at all. I’d get lost in here without Rylee.”

But setting on this path hasn’t been easy for the Olympian. What has he dealt with on his rise? 

Every time the 26-year-old stepped onto the mat at Bercy Arena in Paris, fans couldn’t help but cheer him on. But it wasn’t his skills that drew them closer. It was his antics off the mat. The Olympian became popular for leaning his head against the wall as he waited for his turn. While many believed he was sneaking a quick nap in, that wasn’t the case. The gymnast has strabismus and coloboma.

What is that you ask? The former makes him cross-eyed, which is why he wears the glasses, while the latter affects the development of his eyes. That’s the reason Stephen Nedoroscik wears glasses but has to remove them before his performances, so it doesn’t fall or fly off. Whenever he isn’t wearing his glasses, everything looks hazy.

But wait, there’s more. The gymnast also has asthma and carries his inhaler around with him all the time. In fact, another medical condition led to the 26-year-old meeting his girlfriend at Penn State. The gymnast was waiting to take an ADHD test in the medical room, and she happened to be there too. 

Clearly, none of this has stopped him from trying out new things and exploring the possibilities, but scaring people didn’t start on the DWTS stage. It has roots in his childhood.

When Stephen Nedoroscik scared his babysitter!

Nedoroscik got into gymnastics at the age of four because of how active he was. His parents thought it would be a great way to channel all his extra energy. But what did Nedoroscik do that made his parents think about gymnastics?

Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, the gymnast confessed, “I would crawl up the walls, I’d shimmy up the door and it scared the babysitter.”

“And my parents just called me their ‘little monkey boy,’ and they decided, ‘Hey, this kid probably would do a good job if we put him in gymnastics.’”

In fact, during his first day in the kids’ gym, Stephen Nedoroscik climbed the 15-foot rope all the way to the top, surprising everyone. And as a teen, he had no idea how good he was at the pommel horse until a visiting coach told him he could be a national champion.

It turned out to be true one year later when the gymnast won the Junior Olympic national title on the apparatus. When he entered college, he solely focused on the pommel horse, which resulted in an individual bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics!