As Dancing With the Stars’ 34th season gets underway, its former pro dancer Lindsay Arnold is calling out hateful fan commentary.
“Y’all are mean. Y’all are mean,” she said in a TikTok video on Thursday, addressing the viewers bashing the talent this season on the ABC reality competition. “I’ve seen it all. Literally — I mean, a video or a comment made about every single pro, about the judges, about the hosts, about the troupe, and it’s making me sick. Like, I literally feel sick to my stomach. You understand that these are real people right?”
Arnold reminded fans that these aren’t made-up characters they’re criticizing. “These are real people, who are doing a job that literally none of you could do,” she said. “Like, that’s what kills me, it’s like, ‘My hot take: I think that they didn’t do this good enough.’ Like, let’s see you do it. Let’s see you do it. You couldn’t.”
@lindsarnold Let’s be better you guys 🫶🏻 if you absolutely HAVE to throw shade come throw it at me I can handle it 😉 #dwts #dwtshottake #spreadlove #bekind #letsbenicepeople ♬ original sound – Lindsay Arnold Cusick
She also said that people who have the time to “make videos or spread hate or make comments that actively seek out trashing people” should examine their priorities in life.
“Sorry, I’m fired up because … it makes me sick,” she said. “It makes me sick. I have so many people on the show that I care about — obviously my youngest sister, Rylee [Arnold, who’s paired with Scott Hoying this season], who I would go to bat for ’til the day I die. But I care about all those people. That’s my family. That’s my friends. And I’m coming here to say that literally the job of being a pro is one of the hardest ever. All of you thinking that you have any idea what it takes to be a pro makes me want to laugh.
Arnold concluded her TikTok video by saying it’s OK to express opinions respectfully. “Be better,” she said. “Be better, please. Don’t make me do another video like this, defending all of my friends on a show that you guys are obsessed with. So maybe spread a little bit more positivity about the show that is obviously taking so much of your life. Have a good day, everyone.”
Dancing With the Stars, Season 34, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC, Disney+ (next day on Hulu)
