HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'Dancing with the Stars': Johnny was told to hide his sexuality if he wanted to skate, fans call it 'sickening'

Prior to taking the stage to dance to the Vietnamese waltz for the segment titled 'Villains Night', Johnny briefly talked about his struggles as a gay person and how it impacted his childhood

Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir and his pro-dancer partner Britt Stewart were spared elimination by the judges last week. In the latest (October 26) episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 29, Johnny says the reactions and score they received for their last act was a "dumpster fire". 

Prior to taking the stage to dance to the Vietnamese waltz for the segment titled 'Villains Night', Johnny briefly talked about his struggles as a gay person and how it impacted his childhood. Johnny revealed that he was 16 and quite excited about taking up skating professionally until he was advised to remain discreet about his sexuality or else he couldn’t skate.

A devastated Johnny took that as a challenge and continued to skate fighting all the negativity. He talked about winning many championships and thanked his mother for being by his side, providing him with the support and love to be vocal about the person who he really is. 

Before delivering their performance to ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, Johnny and Britt noted that going from the top of the rank chart to the bottom in the last episode was "horrific". However, with their dance inspired by vampires, the couple managed to woo the judges. While Bruno Tulioni loved the dance and said it was passionate and fluid, Carrie Ann Inaba praised him for his interpretation of the music and for showing his struggles in the form of dance.

Meanwhile, Derek Hough called their act a "perfect formula". Their dance performance got a total of 27 from the three judges. Before getting off the stage, when Tyra Banks asked Johnny if he has any message for his fans who are facing similar struggles, the skater said, “Believe in yourselves because inside you have everything you need to see this world.”

Johnny’s story about coming out and fighting the world left fans emotional. Some seemed to be highly frustrated with the fact that he was discriminated against based on his sexuality. One tweeted, "The singer for the Johnny Weir song tonight needs to record his own version and release it now because that was amazing! ...the dance was awesome too, thanks for telling your story, it will for sure help someone"

Another added, "Awful! Johnny Weir not allowed to skate because of his sexuality is just sickening, but he turned his negative experience into something positive! #DWTS"