Lindsay Arnold Finally Confirms Whether She’s Returning to Dancing With the Stars: ‘As Many of You Know…’
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Last season of DWTS, former pro Lindsay Arnold took time off to be with her family. Although she got to watch on the sidelines as her little sister Rylee made her grand debut as a pro, the question on everyone’s mind now seems to be if Arnold is ready to come back to Dancing With the Stars. Here’s everything we know about if Arnold is making a return for Season 33, and what the future holds in store for the pro.
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Dancing With the Stars is a reality TV dance competition series based on the United Kingdom’s Strictly Come Dancing. The series, which premiered in 2005, pairs celebrities with professional dancers. The couples then compete against each other for judges’ points and audience votes. The pair with the lowest combined judges’ points and audience votes is eliminated each week until only one champion remains. That couple is declared the winner and receives the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Lindsay is a former Dancing With the Stars pro and the older sister of Rylee, who was a pro in Season 32 with Too Hot to Handle alum Harry Jowsey. Arnold joined as a pro back in Season 16 in 2013. She performed as a troupe member for the next few seasons before returning as a pro for Season 21 in 2015. However, she stepped away from the show in 2020 when she was expecting her first daughter, Sage, and in Season 31, when she was trying to conceive her second baby.
She won the mirrorball trophy with Jordan Fisher on Season 25 in 2017, and the last time she competed was with The Bachelor’s Matt James in 2021. As for the most recent season of DWTS in 2023, Arnold revealed in August that it was “not going to work out for me and my family.”
The former pro explained that her family’s lifestyle contributed to her decision not to return. She lives in Utah with her husband Sam Cusick and their two daughters, while the show films in California. Arnold, who welcomed her daughter June in May, explained that it’s a big “sacrifice” to leave home for weeks on end. She also wanted to prioritize watching her kids grow up.
Thankfully, even then, the Utah native noted that she wasn’t done with the show. “Last season when I kind of announced that I wasn’t doing [the show], it wasn’t like I retired or like I said, ‘I’m done forever. I’ll never ever consider doing the show again,’ because I will… I’ve really been considering the option and seeing if it’s something we can fit into our life … and ultimately this season is not gonna work out for me and my family,” Arnold said in a TikTok video on August 24, 2023 (which you can watch below).
With that being said, is Lindsay Arnold coming back to Dancing With the Stars for Season 33? Here’s what she recently said.
Is Lindsay Arnold coming back to Dancing With the Stars?
Is Lindsay Arnold coming back to Dancing With the Stars? Not for Season 33 she isn’t. Arnold confirmed the news on a TikTok video posted to her account on August 26.
“As many of you know, I was on Dancing With the Stars for close to 10 years.” Arnold said in the video. “I stepped away from the show two seasons ago. And when I stepped away, I wasn’t like, ‘I’m done forever.’ It was just like, ‘this is what works for my life and let’s just take it a season at a time.”
She also explained that if she’d wanted the return, the process wouldn’t have been automatic. Instead, she would have had to let the producers know and then basically live her life in limbo as she waited to find out if there was someone for her to dance with. This is much more complicated for her, since she lives in Utah, not in Los Angeles.
Arnold added that she still loves the show, but she’s “content” with her decision to stay home with her kids. “I love the phase of life that we’re in,” she said.
Fans took to Reddit to discuss the possibility of Arnold returning to the show in the future.
“I think at this point she would only come back for a VERY specific partner/scenario. Either a celeb that wants/needs to be based in Utah, a big star who requests her and only her, etc,” one person wrote.
“Not surprised! However, it does make me wonder if we will ever see her back unfortunately. She’s expressed wanting at least one more kid so I’m not sure they’d bring her back after taking so many seasons off,” another comment read.
A recent trip to LA had sparked speculation Arnold was getting ready to return to Dancing With the Stars. The speculation reached a fever pitch when, on August 16, 2024, the former pro dancer posted a “pack with me” video to TikTok. “I’m super excited. Quick trip,” she said in the video.
“Please say it’s for DWTS!?!” one fan commented. “Does this mean you’re going to be on DWTS??,” another one asked. Arnold, of course, did not respond to the comments, but she did share a second TikTok revealing she met up with her sister on Rylee in L.A.
“DWTS??? It would be so fun to have you and Rylee on together!” a fan responded on that.
She also shared pictures of her trip, including a photoshoot in activewear. Nothing looked Dancing With the Stars related, but that didn’t stop fans from speculating.
Arnold had spoken about the possibility of returning to Dancing With the Stars before. During the January 23 episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast “Off the Vine,” Arnold spoke about whether she would return to the show in the future.
“I feel like this is such a frequently asked question,” Arnold told Bristowe. “And I mean, understandably. Understandably. ‘Cuz I’ve never really said, like, ‘I’m done forever.’ And that’s still my answer. Like, I’m not done forever, but I also don’t have a set, like, ‘In one year, I will start doing ‘Dancing With the Stars’ again,” she said. Listen to the full episode and Arnold’s full response below.
The dancer added that when the next season comes around, she looks at where her family is and what her girls’ needs are before making the final decision. “I’m going to have to take it a year at a time,” the mother of two said then.
As for what she misses the most about being on the show, Arnold answered, “My friends… The family aspect of the show. It’s unlike anything else.”
Stay tuned to learn whether Arnold will join the Season 33 cast of DWTS this fall.
For more on DWTS, meet the frontrunners we want to see compete in Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars in the gallery below.
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