Disney/Eric McCandless
“Extra” caught up with Steven Nedrosik and his “Dancing with the Stars” partner Riley Arnold during rehearsals after the second week’s Paso Doble. Steven was nodding to the Clark Kent meme!
Stephen called this a “collective idea” and added: do not have Please do it. That was my viral moment, so we wanted to run with it just like that. ”
Stephen and Riley were able to secure their first 8th place of the season, and he reflected: “It’s so rewarding to go out there and just do the dance that you’ve worked on all week. Our goal was to go to the competition,” and getting an 8, we went there and did it. We were able to execute, so it shows an improvement from Week 1 and hopefully we can keep this ball rolling. ”
Regarding the feedback from the judges, she said: They gave Stephen a lot of good advice that he could definitely work on in rehearsals, so I was really happy. To be honest, I’m very happy to see the scores and critiques improving. ”
Nedrosik agreed, saying, “Just soak it in. That’s what motivates me to go to that game next week.”
Riley praised Stephen’s work, saying: He comes to rehearsal, studies the night before, watches video, comes in, works very hard, because he’s an athlete, very athletic, and he does something I understand that I have to work hard to get good. “
Stephen also spoke passionately about the support he received from his girlfriend Tess in the audience this week. “Just like throughout my gymnastics career, she’s always been like my biggest cheerleader, so she cheered me on in social situations and brought the energy.” . It means so much to me and I love her so much and appreciate her support. ”
When they aren’t rehearsing, Riley, Steven, and Tess hang out together and enjoy game night. “It’s a lot of fun,” Riley said.
Stephen said it was fun getting to know fellow contestant Ilona Maher, who won a bronze medal in rugby at the Paris Olympics. He praised her, saying, “She’s very funny, and she just came back from the Olympics, so we’re very close to each other. She’s really great.”
He added that the Olympic spotlight definitely helped prepare him for the pressure in the ballroom. “What I do on the pommel horse is not dancing, or even close to dancing at all,” he commented. “When you reach an elite level in any sport, you learn work ethics and how to learn, and a lot of those things are very easy to translate to dance.”
Riley and Stephen also addressed which couples are the biggest competitors, noting that Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong were at the top of the leaderboard both weeks. Riley also said Jenna Johnson and Joey Graziadei are “probably the couple we should keep an eye on” as they tied for points.
Stephen added: “I always say I’m my own competitor. I have to make sure I stay motivated. I’m going to come in here and put up the best numbers I can and do my best.” I’m going to take care of them. I think if I do all of those things.” , things should work fine. ”
The two also teased their upcoming dance at Soul Train Night on October 8th. Riley said: “It’s going to be fun, upbeat and happy and it’s actually Steve’s parents’ favorite song. They helped him choose it so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
