Ryan Lochte Breaks Down in Tears Over His Mom’s Emotional Reaction to ‘DWTS’ Protesters
It’s been a whirlwind week on Dancing With the Stars for Ryan Lochte.
One week after two anti-Lochte protesters stormed the stage following his debut, the 32-year-old Olympic swimmer addressed the aftermath on Monday’s new episode.
EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Lochte Reacts to ‘DWTS’ Protestors: 'It Felt Like Someone Took My Heart Out’
“After the dance, two people protesting against me went out on the dance floor,” Lochte recalled. Previously unseen footage was aired, showing one of the protesters bumping Lochte in the leg and Derek Hough kicking out a row of protesters in the audience.
.@RyanLochte endured a very difficult moment last week but had so much love and support from the #DWTS cast pic.twitter.com/AGmvJtjONj
— Whipclip (@whipclip)
“Then I look up in the stands and I see my mom just in tears. And seeing her in tears just…,” he said, unable to finish his sentence as he got emotional over seeing his mom’s pain.
“This situation has impacted me so much,” Lochte said. “It’s just, how far can I put it back in my head and move on?”
RELATED: Cheryl Burke Speaks Out as Ryan Lochte’s 'DWTS’ Protesters Released
Lochte did put last week’s drama behind him, tackling The Muppets theme song and taking on the role of Kermit the Frog, or as he eloquently put it, “the green dude.”
He and his partner, Cheryl Burke, fully embraced their Muppet characters, dressed in bright green and bright pink outfits, but only scored 24 out of 40. And no tears for mom tonight!
“Every time you hear that song, you can’t help but laugh. I love it,” Lochte said when asked about dancing to the silly Muppets theme after last week’s onstage scare.
RELATED: What Viewers Didn’t See When Ryan Lochte Protesters Stormed 'DWTS’ Stage
After Monday’s show, Lochte spoke to ET about the support his DWTS family has shown him following last week’s incident. “It felt good that my family has my back and we’re gonna stick together,” he said. “The support they showed me definitely touched me right here and I’m thankful for that.”
The swimmer admitted he doesn’t plan on watching video of the protesters crashing the stage. “I don’t want to,” he said. “I don’t want to recap that just because I’ll start getting down on myself and after what happened with [that] … DWTS, they’ve shown so much support and I’ve been so positive lately that I just gotta keep being positive and I don’t want to go back.”
For more on Lochte’s unexpected DWTS moment last week, watch the video below.
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