Host Tom Bergeron (left) with Cheryl Burke and Ryan Lochte on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." (Photo : Getty Images/Eric McCandless)
"Dancing With the Stars" season 23 kicked off its premiere episode with a major backlash.
Following pro dancer Cheryl Burke and Ryan Lochte's performance, the Olympic gold medalist was approached by two live audiences who tried to tackle and malign him on live television. During that time, judge Carrie Ann Inaba was giving Burke and Lochte comments regarding their performance, and she couldn't help but say "excuse me" to the two guys who were asked to immediately leave the venue.
While speaking with CNN, Lochte opened up about the incident to say that was hurt and offended by the interruption during the live show. "You know, at that moment, I was really heartbroken. My heart just sunk. It felt like somebody just ripped it apart... I had to realize that I came out here in front of millions. I did something that I do not know how to do - I don't know how to dance. And I gave it my all and I'm glad I did it and I'm glad I'm here," he said.
Meanwhile, Burke also reacted over the incident by saying that she was shocked with what happened, but was also very proud with how her celebrity partner handled the incident.
Pro dancer Witney Carson shared her insights over the matter. "I think it was just saddening and disheartening more than anything because this is such a positive show and we're all about putting people in a positive light. For somebody to want to ruin that for Ryan is just really, really hard," she said.
Carson's dance partner Vanilla Ice also tried to remind viewers that Lochte won a gold medal for the United States. "He won the gold medal for the country, folks. Get over the bull story, whatever. It doesn't matter. He's a hero and he's a great guy on top of that," he said.
In other news, Lochte recently made headlines when he allegedly filed a fake robbery report during the Rio Olympics 2016. As it turned out, Lochte and some of his companions were seen vandalizing one of the public bathrooms in Brazil and were reprimanded by police officials. A CCTV footage confirmed that Lochte wasn't robbed at gunpoint.
"Dancing With the Stars" season 23 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
