Dancing With the Stars pro Rylee Arnold has built a friendship with season 33 partner Stephen Nedoroscik and now she can’t wait for him to meet her new boyfriend, Walker Lyons.
Arnold, 19, confirmed on Sunday, October 27, that she is dating the freshman tight end for the University of Southern California’s football team. Two days later, she exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about the possibility of her and Lyons going on a double date with Nedoroscik, 26, and his longtime girlfriend, Tess McCracken.
“We have a break and we’re definitely going on a double date,” Arnold told Us after the Tuesday, October 29, live episode of DWTS, to which Nedoroscik concurred.
He stated, “It’s definitely going to happen soon, especially with the four-day break coming up.”
Lyons has yet to meet the two-time Olympic medalist.
“I need Stephen’s stamp of approval, don’t I?” Arnold joked to Us. “But from what I’ve told [him], Stephen’s like, ‘Yeah. He’s an amazing guy,’’ and he is, so it’s good.”
On Sunday, Arnold uploaded photos with Lyons at his latest game to her Instagram with the caption, “Is this a hard launch?? 🤭❤️🔥.” Her followers flooded the comments section, noting that Arnold and Lyons reminded them of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. (Swift, 34, and Kelce, 35, have been together since 2023, going public when the pop star went to one of his Kansas City Chiefs football games last year.)
“Honestly, [it’s] so iconic,” Arnold gushed to Us of the comparison. “Like, that’s my dream coming true. Walker’s a tight end. Travis Kelce’s a tight end. I love it.”
Lyons is also in full support of Arnold’s partnership with Nedoroscik.
“Killed it tonight,” Lyons wrote via Instagram Story on Tuesday, sharing a photo of Arnold flashing a peace sign to the camera.
The pro dancer and Nedoroscik scored a 28 out of 30, including their first 10 of the season, for their contemporary routine set to Hidden Citizens’ “I Ran (So Far Away).”
“I mean, that was the most iconic thing ever. I’m so happy,” Arnold gushed. “I mean, that 10 meant so much to both of us and so much to me, that was my first 10 as a pro. So [I’m] just so glad that I got to do that with Stephen and so proud of him that he did that. You freaking did that. So good job.”
Nedoroscik, for his part, said it was “an experience” to get a 10 from judge Carrie Ann Inaba — along with a “meow. (Inaba, 56, was dressed up as a leopard in celebration of Tuesday’s “Halloween Nightmares” theme.)
While the DWTS pair were safe from elimination despite not winning their dance-off, Arnold is ready to “buckle down” in the forthcoming weeks of the competition.
“We just need to buckle down, get into those, like, technicalities of the dances, and really just work super hard so that we do not go home next two weeks,” Arnold noted.
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
