Adam Rippon Opens Up About Meeting Tonya Harding
Dancing With the Stars: Athletes champion Adam Rippon once had some harsh words for fellow competitor Tonya Harding, but the victorious figure skater just revealed he's had a change of heart.
"Every time that I ran into Tonya, she was so nice,” he told People yesterday. "I have really only positive things to say about our interactions together ... She’s, honestly, been really fun."
Harding, who finished as a runner-up along with NFL player Josh Norman, incited controversy throughout her appearance on the four-week-long show. Her involvement with the infamous 1994 attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan and subsequent guilty plea to hindering the prosecution earned her a lifetime ban from figure skating and decimated her reputation for years.
Her return to the spotlight via the buzzy biopic I, Tonya and her casting on DWTS didn't endear her to everyone though. Even Rippon previously voiced his doubts.
"I’m not avoiding her but I’m not not avoiding her," he told USA Today earlier in the month. "It’s also important to remember that skating wasn’t taken away from her – that she was banned because she was part of a bad thing."
A few weeks together on the show led him to change his mind however. Now the Olympic bronze medalist is echoing ABC's redemptive storyline about Harding's comeback opportunity. “I think it’s really nice to see somebody take advantage of this second chance," he commented to People. "I know that every time that she went out there, you could tell she was living in that moment."
Why the change of heart? Rippon admitted during the interview that he "didn't know what to expect" of Harding. Even though they both competed in figure skating at the Olympic level, they'd never interacted before. It was only during their run-ins at the DWTS studio that he got to learn more about one of his chosen sport's most famous competitors.
In fact, his biggest regret from the show was missing the opportunity to spend more time with the cast members. Since he concurrently appeared on the Stars on Ice tour, he missed practicing with the other competitors during the week, Rippon revealed.
As for Harding, she believes the right duo won. "They brought it home every week," Harding told ET after the finale. "Adam is wonderful and his partner, I mean, they deserved it."
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