Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro contestant AJ Pritchard’s fiancée, Zara Zoffany, just hopped on TikTok to apologize for comments she made about DWTS pro Rylee Arnold. In case you’re new to this drama: AJ and Rylee were partnered on The Next Pro on Week 7. Here’s their dance!
But amid AJ facing some criticism for his teaching techniques from Rylee (who was there to offer her feedback), Zara hopped on Instagram to tell Rylee that AJ “wouldn’t have had to critique you in the first place if everything had been right.” She went on to claim that “This week was suppose to be dancing with a Pro… very different dynamics & what people didn’t see in rehearsals was that you injured him when you hit him in the head, leaving with a slight concussion and needing to see a physio.”
Amid backlash from the likes of DWTS pro Ezra Sosa and judge Shirley Ballas, Zara posted a TikTok saying that her comments stemmed from being frustrated by negative online comments about AJ, and that “when I got to the Riley edit, I was already up to here with how they’ve perceived him with the villain edit, with all the criticism, all the comments, all the TikToks.”
As for Rylee, Zara said “I just want to make it clear that I never said she wasn’t qualified. I think that stemmed from Ezra’s reply, which I totally get when your best friend sticks up for you, saying that she’s more than qualified.” She also apologized directly, saying “Rylee, from the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry if I made you feel like a certain type of way. That was never my intention.”
That said, Zara also explained she’s been getting hateful comments and has had to block people, explaining “I really don’t think that the message I wrote deserved this, and I feel like I don’t deserve this.”
