Ryan Lochte in Talks to Join Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars Cast After Rio Controversy

staff@people.com (Lindsay Kimble)
Updated

Ryan Lochte is in talks to join the celebrities competing on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars, a source tells PEOPLE.

While the cast of the latest edition of the reality competition series has yet to be announced and ABC does not comment on casting reports, the source says Lochte may be among the front-runners.

The news comes shortly after Lochte, 32, ignited controversy by fabricating a story about being robbed during his time at the Rio Olympics in August.

"I've been thinking about it a lot, because I have a big heart, and I feel like let down a lot of people," Lochte told PEOPLE on Wednesday. "I feel bad that I have let people down."



"Everyone started watching it, and they didn't watch the athletes," he continued. "That's another reason why I'm so hurt by it, because it took away from the Games."

Lochte was dropped by sponsors Speedo and Ralph Lauren in the wake of the incident, and he's facing further punishment from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Lochte, who won his 12th medal at the Rio games, told NBC's Billy Bush ahead of the second week of Olympic events that he and three other Team U.S.A. swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in Rio.

After prodding from Brazilian police, however, Lochte admitted to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that he had "made up" the robbery. Instead, the group had been confronted by a security guard after allegedly vandalizing a gas station bathroom.

"The part I made up was saying that it was a robbery. I think the word 'robbery' shocked a lot of people, and the story went viral after that," he told PEOPLE. "A gun was pulled, and we had to give them cash. If I didn't say 'robbery,' none of this would have happened."

Subsequently, Lochte told PEOPLE he apologized to his teammates, James Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who had been held in Brazil for questioning in relation to the swimmer's comments.

Dancing with the Stars wouldn't be Lochte's first foray into reality television: he starred on brief E! series What Would Ryan Lochte Do? in 2013.

The show chronicled the life of the American swimmer as he prepared for Rio.

Season 23 of DWTS premieres Sept. 12 on ABC.