Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik joined fellow Olympian Ilona Maher on the ballroom floor for the Season 32 premiere of Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old won a bronze medal for his performance on the pommel horse in Paris, just the fourth American man to medal in the event since WWII.
He also won a bronze medal in the team event and went viral for being spotted closing his eyes with his glasses on before competing, with some dubbing him Team USA’s ‘Clark Kent’ since he performs without his glasses.
Nedoroscik was the first celebrity revealed when the full cast was unveiled, with the show pairing him with dancing pro Rylee Arnold.
The beloved ‘pommel horse guy’ made his ballroom debut on Tuesday, taking one of the highest scores of the night with Arnold.
Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik joined fellow Olympian Ilona Maher on the ballroom floor for the Season 32 premiere of Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday
Nedoroscik was the first celebrity revealed when the full cast was unveiled, with the show pairing him with dancing pro Rylee Arnold
Nedoroscik and Arnold were the second to last performers of the night, behind the controversial Anna Delvey and Ezra Sosa.
The Worcester, Massachusetts-born gymnast made history as the first male gymnast to compete for the Mirrorball Trophy, revealing he was, ‘hoping to make my mark.’
After meeting Arnold for the first time, she admitted, ‘I am obsessed with you,’ before admitting to being a ‘full-on nerd,’ since he has a degree in electrical engineering and his hobbies include Rubix Cubes, chess and gaming.
He added that his record for solving a Rubix Cube is 8.6 seconds, and he’s hoping to rely on his math skills to remember the dance moves.
Arnold admitted, ‘Stephen doesn’t have much dance experience, so we’re kind of starting from the very bottom.’
He admitted, ‘It reminds me of when I first learned how to do the rubik’s cube. It was super tricky at first. But then I mastered it. Hopefully I can master this dance, too.’
Nedoroscik and Arnold performed the jive with Arnold, even nodding to his ‘Clark Kent’ nickname right away – taking of his glasses just before the dance.
Nedoroscik and Arnold danced to the Queen hit Don’t Stop Me Now, with their kinetic and fast-paced routine winning over both the crowd and the judges.
Nedoroscik and Arnold were the second to last performers of the night, behind the controversial Anna Delvey and Ezra Sosa
The Worcester, Massachusetts-born gymnast made history as the first male gymnast to compete for the Mirrorball Trophy, revealing he was, ‘hoping to make my mark’
He added that his record for solving a Rubix Cube is 8.6 seconds, and he’s hoping to rely on his math skills to remember the dance moves
Carrie Ann Inaba began by saying, ‘That was so fun! You are so entertaining and so light on your feet. Look, I mean, I had a feeling you might be agile and incredible.’
However, there was one aspect of the performance that bothered her, as she revealed, ‘you, sir, have to point those toes!’
‘Please, if you’re going to be that good, you have to point your toes, because it’s so distracting. It almost made me like, rawr! But when somebody is really good, and something like that stands out, it stands out more,’ she said.
Derek Hough added, ‘That jive was kind of like a rubik’s cube, it had a lot of twists and turns and colorful surprises in there. I loved that you used your athleticism to show this audience a great time. There is definitely some technique, you rushed the beginning, the adrenaline was going. Slow down, slow down.’
Bruno Tonioli said, ‘This was an unstoppable explosion of energy! You were bouncing off the walls. No one could catch you! I mean, come on! I mean, but I love that energy. I love the input. Now, work on the details.’
They all gave Stephen and Rylee 7’s apiece, for a total of 21 out of 30 for the first round.
Nedoroscik also went viral for replicating his Olympics eyes-closed pose at the Emmys, just before presenting an award, as caught by actress Katie Aselton.
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