Ryan Lochte joined “Dancing With the Stars” for Season 23. According to Heavy, during the performance a tweet was made by Kate Coyne, from People magazine, that someone from the audience rushed the dance floor. They threw an unknown object at Lochte. She further tweeted that even though the attacker was detained, that other people followed pursuit.
Coyne said that the “genius who rushed” the stage seemed like a scary individual. Supposedly, he was wearing a shirt that read, “No Lochte.” Interestingly, she added a question about what was wrong with people.
There is no further information about the reported attack except that Lochte was relieved for the quick response of the security team at the program.
According to People magazine, Lochte was teamed with Cheryl Burke. The 32-year-old dancer and the former Olympian are well suited. She was a participant on “Dancing with The Stars” during Seasons 2-19 and won the Mirrorball Trophy twice.
There had been some controversy over Lochte’s presence on the show after his recent encounter with the law in Rio after the supposed robbery complaint he filed. The executive producer Rob Wade explains that the casting discussions took place before the Olympics began.
UPDATE: According to Coyne’s Twitter feed, there were two men involved in the incident. They were both wearing shirts indicating their protest of Lochte’s performing on the dance show. She added that the men attempted to block the cameras while they were on the stage.
There was a scuffle between the men and security. Then the two fell toward Lochte and Burke, however, they were not hurt. The protesters were finally cuffed and removed from the stage. Coyne wrote that Burke was in tears and that the former Olympian was obviously shaken.
Updates will be provided once they become available.
Written by Cathy Milne
Sources:
People: Dancing with the Stars Cast Revealed: Everything to Know About Season 23
Heavy: What Happened to Ryan Lochte on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Tonight? Was He Attacked?
Image Courtesy of JD Lasica’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
