Lindsay Arnold is defending her Dancing With the Stars family.
The former pro on the reality competition series sounded off on critics of DWTS in her “hot take” of its Sept. 16 season 34 premiere.
“Y’all are mean,” Lindsay said in a TikTok video shared Sept. 18. “The amount of videos I’ve seen literally trashing the pros, the troupe, the hosts and judges. It’s making me sick. I literally feel sick to my stomach. You understand that these are real people, right?”
“This isn’t some made-up TV show, where they’re playing characters,” she went on, referring to the show The Summer I Turned Pretty, she added, “This is not Conrad, Belly and Jeremiah, where we can just comment on their decisions and their choices and their lives.”
The 31-year-old, who participated in 10 seasons of DWTS and won season 25 with Jordan Fisher, went on to encourage people on social media to make better use of their time.
“If you have time in your day to make videos, spread hate or leave comments and actively seek out trashing people,” she said, “then you’re obviously not working hard enough on yourself. Maybe you need to rethink what’s most important in your life.”
She also called attention to her sister Rylee Arnold—who is competing as a pro on season 34 with partner Scott Hoying—saying she “would go to bat for her ’til the day I die.”
“But I care about all those people,” Lindsay added. “That’s my family, my friends. I’m coming here to say that the job of being a pro is one of the hardest ever. All of you thinking you have any idea what it takes to be a pro makes me want to laugh.”
Ultimately, the mother of two discouraged social media users from “bashing and trashing” people who they watch on TV.
“Be better,” Lindsay said. “Please don’t make me do another video like this defending all of my friends on a show that you guys are obsessed with. So, maybe spread a little more positivity about the show that is obviously taking up so much of your life.”
Keep reading for more on this season of Dancing With the Stars…
Baron Davis
Partnered with Britt Stewart
Jennifer Affleck
Partnered with Jan Ravnik
Alix Earle
Partnered with Valentin Chmerkovski
Dylan Efron
Partnered with Daniella Karagach
Corey Feldman
Partnered with Jenna Johnson
Elaine Hendrix
Partnered with Alan Bersten
Robert Irwin
Partnered with Witney Carson
Jordan Chiles
Partnered with Ezra Sosa
Scott Hoying
Partnered with Rylee Arnold
Whitney Leavitt
Partnered with Mark Ballas
Hilaria Baldwin
Partnered with Gleb Savchenko
Andy Richter
Partnered with Emma Slater
Danielle Fishel
Partnered with Pasha Pashkov
