“Dancing With the Stars” casts controversial contestants from time to time. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte competed with Cheryl Burke during season 23. At the time, many expressed anger with the athlete after he told authorities that he and other swimmers were held at gunpoint while they were in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics.
Later, it was discovered that the incident was untrue.
Many felt outraged when Ryan Lochte went on to compete on DWTS that fall, which even sparked protests and a situation that almost turned dangerous.
During the DWTS convention this weekend, cast member Phil Heyes recalled the incident and discussed why viewers at home never saw a thing.
Director Phil Heyes Remembers Protests Over Ryan Lochte
EntertainmentNow editor Lauren Weigle attended the panels this weekend and captured director Phil Heyes detailing a fascinating story.
“My first ever show, over a decade ago anyway, my first show in the United States, we had Ryan Lochte on. And there was a stage invasion,” Heyes explained.
After Lochte and Cheryl Burke finished their performance, two men stormed the stage. Luckily, security confronted them and quickly got the situation under control.
“In the United Kingdom, I would cut to the shots of people getting tackled to the floor and everybody punching each other. I had every single shot lined up. I looked around to the network and they were like, ‘No. Go to commercial.’ So you guys never saw any of that, but it was some great TV,” Heyes revealed on the panel.
Tom Bergeron was the host at the time and kept the show running smoothly while security handled the trespassers.
“We had to go to break because we had a little incident. I’d like to personally thank our security team for staying in shape,” the host told cameras when they came back from commercial.
The Crew Works Hard to Ensure the Show Runs Smoothly
While the Ryan Lochte protestors were frightening enough, there are actually many things that can go wrong during a live show. During the panel, Phil Heyes explained that there are many technical difficulties that they need to get under control before a show goes live.
“Virtually, every show there’s something,” Heyes admitted. “I have to say before I give you any tidbits, the team’s incredible. When anything bad happens, it just rarely escalates and there’s always a pivot for us.”
“I think one of the worst things that happened recently, I don’t know if you remember the finale from last season, we had the enormous mirrorball that’s on a revolve and it worked every time. Every time it went round and it revealed the finalists in the mirrorball and they came out and danced. And then a minute to air, my stage manager, Roger, came over and he went, ‘The turntable’s broken,'” Heyes added.
Thankfully, they got the turntable working with just moments to spare and the audience never knew anything was wrong.
“Dancing With the Stars” will be back for season 35 at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, on ABC. The following night, there will be a second episode on the network.
