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Ryan Lochte and Dancing with the Stars had a scary incident last night when an audience member tried to rush the stage. Two protesters in the audience went after the swimming star after his performance when he was being critiqued by Carrie Ann Inaba. The men were stopped by security. Host Tom Bergeron cut to commercial.
The protesters were were identified as Sam Sododeh, 48, and Barzeen Soroudi, 40 who wore shirts with Lochte’s name and a ‘no’ symbol over it. Lochte was understandable scared when the show came back from the commercial break. “I’m doing good. So many feelings are going through my head right now. A little hurt. I came out here and I wanted to do something I was completely uncomfortable with, and I did.”
“I’m hurt for Ryan,” his partner Cheryl Burke added. “He’s sweet, he’s kind.”
Anti-Ryan Lochte protesters disrupt disgraced U.S. swimmer’s “Dancing With the Stars” debut. https://t.co/ZCx0pInXF7 pic.twitter.com/BSi0wpb1GF
— ABC News (@ABC) September 13, 2016
After the show, E!News caught up with Ryan who said, “It’s hard. I’m getting over it, though. It honestly feels as if someone reached inside, took out my heart out and just stepped on it.” He turned to his partner Cheryl for support. “She looked at me and smiled and said, ‘You just danced in front of millions.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God! You’re right! I did.’ So I’m going to keep moving forward and I’m going to keep dancing.”
Another angle of Lochte protesters on #DWTS #DancingWiththeStars
Why does this remind me of a Trump rally 🤔 pic.twitter.com/YKCwT5dirE
— DCHomos (@DCHomos) September 13, 2016
Photo from PR Photos