Premiering on Sept. 17 on ABC and Disney Plus, Dancing with the Stars is about to make its highly-anticipated return this fall, and fans seriously cannot contain their excitement. Viewers have already started coming up with their dream cast list — featuring celebs like David Archuleta, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and Jason Kelce — but no official contestants have been announced just yet.
While nothing is set in stone, there certainly is some speculation on who could bring their skills to the ballroom for season 33…
A video shared by @kristynburtt via TikTok teased that a certain U.S. athlete — one who made all the headlines at the 2024 Paris Olympics — might be going for the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy to add to his collection of medals. Think you know who?
Stephen Nedoroscik might be a part of Dancing with the Stars season 33
Yup, you read that right. Stephen Nedoroscik — aka “Pommel Horse Guy” — might be returning to our television screens sooner than you may think as a part of Dancing with the Stars this fall.
“He was scheduled to do the Gold Over America tour, but if you go now — and this is later in the afternoon, this is 2:15pm on Monday, Aug. 12th — you’ll see very clearly that his name is no longer on the cast list,” the TikTok user spilled, prior to delving into the details of why this is significant.
“For those of you who have followed Dancing with the Stars for a long time, you know that when Laurie Hernandez won her gold medal in Rio and then went onto Dancing with the Stars, she still did the tour, and things have changed a little bit… When she did Dancing with the Stars, her pro Val Chmerkovskiy traveled with her during the week. He was able to rehearse with her, and then they would come back and do Dancing with the Stars. Since her season, though, Dancing with the Stars has moved to Tuesday nights, and there are five conflicting dates between the Gold Over America tour and Dancing with the Stars. That is a lot on your plate if you’re going to try and do that.”
She concluded passionately, “You can’t be two places at once — because Dancing With the Stars premieres on Sept.17, and so does the Gold Over America tour (one in Los Angeles and one down in the San Diego area) — so he probably had to pick one over the other.”
We are by no means gymnastics experts, but this sounds pretty convincing to us.
For those who might not have kept up with his journey at the Olympic Games, Nedoroscik was a part of the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team for the United States alongside Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong, and Paul Juda, specializing in a single event: the pommel horse.
After waiting nearly two and a half hours during the team finals, Nedoroscik finally competed in his event, the pommel horse, clinching Team USA’s place on the podium with a bronze medal. This third-place finish marked Team USA’s first medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics since the 2008 Olympic Games, but that was not Nedoroscik’s only feat this summer. In the individual portion of this sport, Nedoroscik slayed the pommel horse and snagged a bronze medal yet again, marking Team USA’s first individual medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics since the 2016 Olympic Games.
Not only is he an extremely impressive athlete — bringing awareness to Men’s Artistic Gymnastics in the United States — but he also became a meme all over social media, stealing the hearts of individuals all across the globe. Earning nicknames like “The Specialist” and “Pommel Horse Guy” due to his athleticism alone, his geeky demeanor led to dozens of Clark Kent comparisons, primarily due to his tendency to take off his eyeglasses before his pommel horse performances, ultimately drawing some similarities to Kent’s transformation into Superman.
Hearing that he may be a part of Dancing with the Stars this fall was music to fans’ ears, taking to the comment section of the TikTok video to express their excitement:
“Yes, I’ll be voting for him every single week!!!”
“I would love to see him on there! He’s adorable!!”
“Seems like an obvious choice!”
“I hope soooo omg!”
While there is no way to know for sure whether or not Stephen Nedoroscik is a part of the season 33 cast until it is officially announced on Good Morning America, it is safe to say our fingers will be crossed until further notice. We NEED to see him shine on Dancing with the Stars!
Dancing with the Stars season 33 premieres on ABC and Disney Plus on Sept. 17 at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT. It will also be available to stream on Hulu.