Typically, after the Olympics end, I start thinking about which athletes could compete on the next season of Dancing with the Stars. Last season, gymnast Jordan Chiles was paired with Ezra Sosa, and the season before that, gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and rugby player Ilona Maher took the ballroom by storm. Now, I think it's the winter athletes' turn to join the show, and after seeing Rylee Arnold dance with two figure skaters, I know who should be her next partner.
At the moment, the Winter Olympics are airing on the 2026 TV schedule, and you can watch them with a Peacock subscription. However, in the fall, Dancing with the Stars will be back to take over the schedule for its 35th season. It looks like Rylee Arnold might be doing some recruiting for it, too, as she posted the following video on her Instagram from the Milan Cortina games:
As you can see, in this video, Arnold – who has been a pro on DWTS for three seasons – taught some moves to men’s skater Ilia Malinin and pairs skater Danny O’Shea. Both men were part of the gold medal-winning team, and in their respective individual competitions, Malinin came in eighth while O’Shea and his partner, Ellie Kam, came in ninth.
Now that their competitions are over, it would seem these guys are learning some new moves…dance moves, and I could really see both of them excelling on DWTS. However, I do have a clear favorite.
So, I think the obvious choice here is Malinin. He was the talk of the town going into the games; he’s nicknamed the “Quad God,” and while he didn’t go home with the gold, he is an incredibly impressive and well-known skater. With all that in mind, he’d be a good and notable person to bring on to the show.
However, based on Arnold’s practice video, I really want to see her paired with O’Shea on the show. As a pairs skater, he knows how to lift up his partner (literally), and as this clip shows, he can do it on solid ground too. Personally, I think he could make a real run for the title with Arnold!
Plus, it helped that when O’Shea posted his own footage from this interaction, he also included a video of him lifting Arnold up on the ice. Talk about impressive.
Oh, and the pro commented on his post, noting:
You were so good!!! Absolutely need you on the show!!!
Now, the wait is really on, because I have ideas, so hopefully we’ll get some new casting soon. Last year, Alix Earle and Robert Irwin’s involvement on DWTS was announced months earlier than normal. So, it’s possible we’ll get some names in the coming months. However, even if that happens, we likely will not know who they’re paired with until the show kicks off in the fall.
I’m rooting for Rylee Arnold being paired with Danny O’Shea, though, and I actually really hope it happens. I think they’d be contenders, much like the pro was with Nedoroscik a couple of seasons ago. So, yes, I want to see this happen.
