Two individuals crashed Ryan Lochte's performance on "Dancing With the Stars," wanting to attack the Olympian swimmer who was involved in a controversy in the recent Rio Olympics. While Ryan Lochte and pro partner Cheryl Burke looked unnerved by the interruption, both were surprised and Burke later revealed that Lochte was injured.
Reports revealed there were two men who stepped into the "Dancing With the Stars" ballroom dance floor while at least four other people yelled something against Ryan Lochte, booing him as judge Carrie Ann Inaba was giving the partners her comments on their performance. They were wearing anti-Lochte T-shirts, which they hid under their jackets. The protesters were identified as Barzeen Soroudi and Sam Sotoodeh, who were arrested by the DWTS security and were given to the custody of LAPD, according to CNN. The other protesters were escorted out of the studio as well.
"You know, at that moment, I was really heartbroken," Lochte told CNN. "My heart just sunk. It felt like somebody just ripped it apart."
In her account of what happened during the live telecast of DWTS via People Magazine, Cheryl Burke shared, "I looked up to Ryan and I could tell he was on the verge of tears. I could feel his heart sinking into his stomach - and to be honest, mine was too. They cut to commercial break and I just had him lock eyes with me and I was telling him, 'You're amazing. Don't forget why you're here.'"
Burke added that Ryan is an amazing guy and she knows that Lochte would not let the incident bring him down. She also revealed that "Ryan did injure his ankle a little when the protester got tackled, so we'll have to see how our first rehearsal goes. But at the end of the day, we are all just so grateful that no one was more seriously injured."
"Dancing with the Stars" Season 23 airs Mondays and Tuesdays on ABC.
