There’s drama in the Dancing with the Stars fandom. It all started when Zara Zoffany, fiancée of The Next Pro contestant AJ Pritchard, criticized pro Rylee Arnold for her comments on Pritchard’s coaching technique in the most recent episode.
DWTS: The Next Pro Contestant’s Fiancée Starts Drama
During this week’s Semifinals episode of DWTS: The Next Pro, the contestants were asked to teach a routine to an existing pro. AJ Pritchard was paired with Rylee Arnold for a cha-cha routine. When asked to share her thoughts on Pritchard’s style of coaching, Arnold called him “kind of intense,” saying it was “contestant critiques.”
Pritchard’s fiancée Zara Zoffany responded to Arnold’s comments on TikTok, writing that Pritchard “wouldn’t have had to critique you in the first place if everything had been right.” She went on to claim that the show left out a moment in rehearsals when Arnold hit Pritchard in the head.
Zoffany claimed that Arnold left Pritchard with a concussion, and that he “needed to see a physio.” She argued that the injury was omitted from the episode because Arnold is a pro. Zoffany insisted that “AJ’s criticism has always been constructive, and he wouldn’t have needed to give it if something hadn’t been wrong.”
Pritchard himself also hinted that things were left on the cutting room floor in a social media reaction to the most recent episode of DWTS: The Next Pro, although he didn’t give specifics.
Zoffany’s comments prompted both DWTS pro Ezra Sosa and The Next Pro contestant Selena Hamilton to respond on social media in defense of Arnold. Sosa wrote on TikTok that Zoffany’s criticism “genuinely made me sick to my stomach.”
“Rylee is my best friend, I love her, and I will speak up for her,” Sosa wrote, adding, “AJ is allowed to give feedback, and Rylee is allowed to be honest about how that feedback felt to her. Both can exist. Also, this is a dance competition. Everyone gets critiqued.”
Sosa said it was “sad to see” a “woman go out of her way to publicly question another woman’s qualifications,” arguing, “You could have defended AJ without belittling Rylee. You chose not to.”
Pritchard’s fellow DWTS: The Next Pro finalist Selena Hamilton also appeared to chime in on the situation, writing on Instagram stories, “I’ve been hit, dropped, and more on a job. Never has that ever been an excuse to treat someone like they are less than me or not qualified to be a part of the project. Accidents happen. Give people more grace jeezzzz.”
What do you think about the current DWTS: The Next Pro drama? Let us know in the comments below.
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Jill O'Rourke Jill O’Rourke is a contributor at Talent Recap, writing news stories and recaps for shows like ‘AGT,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘American Idol.’ She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and Film Studies, and has been writing about pop culture since 2012, with previous bylines at Crushable and A Plus. Jill spends her free time binge-watching sitcoms and daydreaming about life as a hobbit
