Adam Rippon vogued to RuPaul’s ‘Sissy That Walk’ on Dancing With the Stars and Mama Ru can be proud
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 30: Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson attend ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars: Athletes” Season 26 show on April 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
Mama Ru would be proud: Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon turned “the world on its head” dancing to RuPaul’s LGBT anthem during his Dancing With the Stars debut on Monday night.
Cha-cha-ing to the drag icon’s “Sissy That Walk,” Rippon and dancing partner Jenna Johnson owned the stage with some stylish and confident twists, turns and a bit of voguing. In all, they earned eight points across the board from the three judges.
The judges did not hold back on their praise, with Bruno Tonioli calling Rippon the “angel of the ballroom” and Carrie Ann Inaba telling him he was “born to do this show.”
The pair tied for best performance of the evening with 24 points, same score as NFL cornerback Josh Norman and his partner Sharna Burgess, who also cha-cha-chaed to Bruno Mars’ “Finesse.”
Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson (Allen Berezovsky/Getty)
Talking to Entertainment Tonight, Rippon opened up about his chemistry with Johnson, saying: “We just had so much fun together. We just were joking and laughing,” he said. “And we do that all throughout our rehearsals.”
But don’t be fooled, Rippon is in it to win it, stating in his pre-dance introduction that it was “time to seize the moment” and that he wanted a disco ball in trophy form in his living room.
The first openly gay US Winter Olympian is a big fan of Drag Race and said he would love to be a guest judge. He met RuPaul last week during the Time 100 Gala at the Lincoln Centre in New York.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOioqgPyCwE]
However, he will be beaten to a Drag Race appearance by his friend Gus Kenworthy, the Olympic skier.
Kenworthy will appear on an upcoming episode of the reality show as a guest judge.
“I’m so excited about that. It’s a dream come true,” the skier said last week.
The appearance is expected to be in Season 11 as the full line-up for Season 10, which is currently airing, is already confirmed.
Back on Dancing With the Stars, controversial figure skater Tonya Harding and Rippon’s team event teammate Mirai Nagasu, who also won a bronze medal in Pyeongchang, tied for second place at 23 with foxtrot and salsa numbers respectively.
The Twittersphere loved Rippon and Johnson’s performance, with U.S. Olympic gymnastics medalist Simone Biles leading the charge.
Olympian Gus Kenworthy was here for it, too.
Rippon really showed he was one of tops of this seasons of DWTS.
