DWTS pro Rylee Arnold ‘hard launches’ her relationship with USC football player
Dancing with the Stars pro-dancer Rylee Arnold has gone Instagram official with her boyfriend Walker Lyons, a University of Southern California football player.
The DWTS cast member, 19, took to Instagram on October 27 to share a few photos from the tight end’s football game. The first picture showed the couple on the field as Arnold looked up at her boyfriend, who was wearing a red and yellow uniform with the number “85” jersey.
The next picture showed Arnold sitting in the stands during the USC Trojans game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Her post also included snaps of herself and Lyons hugging and laughing on the field.
“Is this a hard launch??” she wrote in the caption of the post. A “hard launch” is a term used to describe an explicit relationship announcement, typically by showing their partner’s face on social media.
In the comments, Arnold’s fans and friends gushed over her new relationship.
“OHHHH SHOOT SHE DID IT GO RYLEE,” commented Stephen Nedoroscik, her dance partner on the current season of DWTS.
Fellow DWTS pro, Alan Bersten, added: “It’s not a soft launch!!! That’s for sure.”
Actor Taylor Lautner agreed, writing: “Definitely ain’t a soft launch.”
“I CANNOT GET OVER YOU TWO,” Arnold’s sister Lindsay commented with multiple heart-eye emojis.
The dancer later took to her Instagram Story to document their evening date to Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. The first photo showed Arnold looking up at her boyfriend while standing on one of the main streets of the park.
“The best night at Disneyland,” she wrote in the caption, in which she tagged Lyons’s Instagram account.
She also shared a photo of them eating churros, followed by another image of the pair hugging and smiling in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Arnold concluded her Instagram Story posts with a snap of herself and her boyfriend walking through Disneyland, with their arms wrapped around each other. “GOODNIGHT!!!” she wrote in the caption, along with a fiery red heart emoji.
Arnold and Nedoroscik, also known as Team USA’s “pommel horse guy,” are competing on the 33rd season of DWTS. The 25-year-old two-time bronze medalist became a viral meme for his meditation ritual at the 2024 Olympics. He’s also the first male gymnast to compete on DWTS.
In last week’s episode, which aired on October 22, reality star Phaedra Parks and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy were the latest pair to be eliminated. The next episode of DWTS airs Tuesday, October 29.
