Ryan Lochte rushed by audience member on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ — VIDEO
In a bizarre incident on the season premiere of “Dancing With the Stars” Monday night, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s debut on the dancing competition was interrupted by what appeared to be someone trying to rush the stage.
Just as Lochte and dancing partner Cheryl Burke were hearing the judges’ opinions of their performance during the telecast, which originated from CBS Television City and aired live on the East Coast, one person or possibly two appeared to rush the stage. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was seen yelling “Excuse me! Hey, back off!” A figure could briefly be seen rushing in front of the camera. (Watch the moment below.)
Here’s video of whatever just happened to Ryan Lochte on #DWTS pic.twitter.com/x8GAfa7aeT
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) September 13, 2016
“DWTS” host Tom Bergeron kept his composure during what was clearly a chaotic moment on the stage and threw to a commercial break. When “DWTS” returned, Bergeron described the situation as “a little incident” and thanked the show’s security for “staying in shape.”
Lochte was visibly shocked just before the show cut to commercial. He later told Bergeron, “I’m doing good.” He told ABC News that he intended to “brush it off, and keep going.”
After the four-minute commercial break, the “DWTS” competition continued with a performance by Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez.
ABC News radio correspondent Jason Nathanson later tweeted a photo of two men in handcuffs wearing anti-Lochte shirts.
Cuffed for rushing the stage at #DWTS during @ryanlochte's dance pic.twitter.com/rjueIKuLsZ
— Jason Nathanson (@ABCNewsJason) September 13, 2016
Inaba also posted a photo on social media expressing her thanks to the “DWTS” security team.
We had a bit of a scary moment during tonight's live taping of @dancingabc, but… https://t.co/8QH7t4dWgA #dwts pic.twitter.com/Mq1r6IwfvF
— Carrie Ann Inaba (@carrieanninaba) September 13, 2016
Inaba’s fellow judge Julianne Hough told ABC News that she didn’t know if it was a big attack because of “the world we live in today” and it was frightening.
Four to five other women were also escorted out of the audience as part of the group chanting against Lochte, according to ABC News.
Anti-Lochte protestor tackled to the ground at #DWTS pic.twitter.com/ATWrFb34nK
— Patrick Gomez (@PatrickGomezLA) September 13, 2016
The Olympic gold medalist has been at the center of controversy for the past month due to an incident that occurred while he was in Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Games. He was recently suspended from all swimming competitions for ten months after making a false robbery report at the Olympics, where he said himself and three other swimmers were robbed at gunpoint. Lochte later admitted that he “over-exaggerated” the story.
ABC did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.