Rylee Arnold’s Boyfriend Walker Lyons Swiftly Defends Her After ‘DWTS’ Judges Gave Harsh Critiques

Christopher Polk//Getty ImagesKey PointsRylee Arnold and her DWTS partner Connor Wood received a 25/40 score for their Super Bowl-inspired samba, drawing criticism from judges over technique and costume choices.Rylee’s boyfriend Walker Lyons publicly defended her on social media, expressing frustration that she faced overly harsh criticism compared to other contestants.Fans rallied behind Rylee and Connor, arguing the judges were unfairly harsh and pointing out that they scored lower than other competitors despite strong performance and connection on the dance floor.Rylee Arnold’s people are fully in her corner after she and her celeb partner, Connor Wood, received some tough feedback for their Super Bowl-inspired samba on Dancing With the Stars.

The pro dancer’s boyfriend, Walker Lyons, entered the chat about the judges’ harsh criticism after her and Connor’s performance of Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” on Tuesday, October 13.

“Robbery 👎,” he wrote underneath a post of Rylee and Connor from the official DWTS social account, referring to their 25/40 score.

In a separate comment, he added, “It’s all fun and games until it’s time to give critique to Rylee I guess 🤔🤷.”

According to a screenshot on his Instagram Stories, Walker also supported Rylee in real time as he watched the show through FaceTime. “@ryleearnold1 killed it !! so proud of you ❤️,” he wrote alongside the post.

As Walker publicly defended his girl in the DWTS comments, fans also admitted they felt the judges were being harsh and unfair with their scores.

“You dropped this king,” one person wrote alongside a crown emoji, commending the athlete’s comment. Another added, “They overly criticize them every week!!! So frustrating.”

“Giving tyler cameron an 8 and this a 6 is actually insane work,” someone else wrote, expressing shock that Connor and Rylee received a lower score than Tyler and Sharna Burgess’ jazz routine to the Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time (Dirty Bit).”

ICYMI, judges Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Derek Hough each scored Connor and Rylee a 6 for their Super Bowl Night samba, while guest judge Joe Buck gave them a 7.

According to Bruno, he just couldn’t get behind those neon orange fringe outfits.

“Sorry, I can’t get over those pants. Whatever happens, you’re gonna get a job at a car wash with that because I’m telling you, this really is like upstairs/downstairs,” he said. “Upstairs, obviously, the connection, the relation with Rylee is great, but [the pants] really hide a multitude of sins. You really didn’t have the correct hip foot action for the samba…You know, you’ve really got it sorted moving forward. There is work to do.”

Carrie Ann echoed his sentiment, adding that the pair “threw a lot of content” during the dance, which she claims to have enjoyed. Though she knows Connor is committed to “learning” each week, she said, “This wasn’t your best.”

Derek agreed that they “keep working” on their technique moving forward.

Well…trust we’ll be seeing Connor and Rylee crush it again next week! And, hopefully, the judges will come around and give them higher scores, too.

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