Hope Solo: I Was Too Muscular for Dancing With the Stars
Credit: ABC/CRAIG SJODIN
When Hope Solo and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were voted off Dancing With the Stars on November 15, the 30-year-old soccer player was so distraught she refused to speak to reporters backstage.
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The athlete broke her silence during a Tuesday appearance on Anderson, where Solo told host Anderson Cooper she felt "very naive" during her time on the ABC show.
"It is very much reality television. From day one, they casted our characters," she said.
Though she frequently sparred with Chmerkovskiy, 31, Solo insisted "Maks and I were great friends and we had an endearing relationship."
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Solo felt that the three judges -- Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli -- were wary of her from the beginning.
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"I was told I had too much muscle and I was too intense and wasn't very dainty. Well, hello -- you cast a female professional athlete! Help me get better as a dancer," she said. "There's no hard feelings at all. I understand that it's television."
Tell Us: Did Hope Solo deserve to be sent home on November 15?
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32I like Hope- she did well but she went home when it was her time. Now let's leave her alone and let her train for the Olympics. and start reporting on something more interesting..like the Kardashians- haha. JK
Did Hope deserve to be sent home November 15??? NO!!!!! Hope should have been sent home much earlier..She is full of CRAP!!!! Laila ALi is a professional athlete that had a great attitude towards during the show and danced beatifully. Hope's attitude was bad from day 1...let's see now...bad attitude, no dance skills, the lack of trying....yeah she should have gone home long before the 15th of Nov......
What a massive load of CRAP! What about Laila Ali? I just got the feeling that she was believing the before show hype and she thought this show would be a piece of cake. Also I sometimes got the feeling that she thought being more femine was being weak or something. It may have been a defense mechanism from the judges telling her she was not feminine enough but it came off bad.
It's not that Hope was too muscular for DWTS, it's that she was not a natural dancer. Maks thought he could turn her into a dancer and it didn't work enough to win. Laila Ali was the same height and muscular built but was more of a natural dancer and had a better attitude. Even in the video after the "shove incident", Hope made the comment about being insecure. Hope's comment about "help me get better as a dancer", Maks tried and unfortunately he got too intense and frustrated. Don't make excuses, just admit that dancing is not your thing. I wish her well at the Olympics.
Maks really convinced her that she could dance. I couldn't believe the comment that she made, while still on the show, "We're doing moves that no one else on this show can do!" WHAT? She has a bad attitude and should face the fact that she really lasted longer than she should've due to her always snapping at the judges. They were afraid to give her constructive criticism. Yes, too muscular and too stiff and just a bad dancer!!! Glad she left!! Good riddance, bye bye now!!
she was so stiff and moved like a robot.. personally i think there's something going on between max and she.
Wow I lost any respect I had for her, This is just sour grapes and reflects badly on her over all. She lacks professionalism. There were other dancers who was just as muscular or more so. Some did good and some did not. She can't just say I was not that talented or that good. She keeps coming up with excuses on why she was not as good. She is getting lame with her excuses! I watched on of her dances and she moved so slow and was stilted and rigid in her movement.
she got kicked off because she wasn't very good! Can she honestly say when she watches the playbacks that she looked as good dancing as the others. She was on way to long in my opinion!
Apparently she didn't watch any of her performances. Many of the celebrities have had muscle. Those women also were graceful. Hope was a bull in a china shop. All she did was throw her body around. If it wasn't that her partner is a female viewer favorite, she would have been tossed off much earlier than she was. What a spoiled brat.
Two words - Lalia Ali. She is all muscle and she is graceful and light on her feet - she was amazing. Hope is just trying to turn things around so America doesn't think she lacks sportsmanship - which she does.
How many athlete how been on the show and done well and have won!! Your a sore loser not only on DWTS but in soccer as well. I guess they knew to pair you with someone that is so arrogant and ill mannered. It was a match made in heaven. You cry so much how unfair they judged you but you allowed your dance instructor to push you on camera in front on all the other dancers. Everyone stood watching with their mouths open. We all gasped at the same time when it happened here in our home. Then he had the nerve to walk out leaving the real pros to try to teach you. That said so much about you. I think you should seek a good therapist so you can learn to accept criticism and know when you need to respect and speak up for yourself.
There are so many Hope Solo haters on here, it's to the point of rediculousness. She was a very good dancer. The judges chose to ridicule her dancing when they saw fit. They insulted her by saying she wasn't a real woman, for staters. She and Maks had every right to be upset with the judges. Look how the judges treated Ralph Macchio from a previous season. Judge Bruno told his pro dancer that she was too rough on her vagina(he used a more vulgar word that was bleeped when it aired).
She should have not made it to the finals....I found her disrespectal and whiny...if the judges criticized her for something, she acted disrespectful and rude (where they just taped her and Maks afterwards) as well as Maks. All she did was whine about everything! Is this how professional athletes representing your country are suppose to act? I don't think so......
No boo, it wasn't that you were too muscular. It was that you weren't a good dancer. It's okay though, I wish I had your athletic abilities. Not everyone is meant to do everything and be successful at it.
This women made it the semi-finals (when she shouldn't have) despite the mean judges she complains about constantly and she still has nothing but excuses. You came in fourth for crying out loud, a position I am sure Chynna and Kirsten Cavalari would have traded with you in a heart beat and you still whine. You were not that good, its okay, ballroom dancing is damn hard and yet you still came 4th. Please stop all the whining, you have truly come off as a spoiled rotten sore loser.
I did not watch this season but from what I read and the recaps my mom told me about she is a whiny brat!! The muscle excuse is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, every female pro on the show is muscular and they are PROS so therefore that dose not affect the ability to dance, she just sucked and is a sore loser and is trying to blame everyone else and everything else and not the fact that she was not a good dancer...
Remember Misty May Treanor?(volleyball player)? She was WAY more muscular, did very well until she got injured. I am not impressed with Hope's sportsmanship.
Hope was a breath of fresh air. The judges and producers got the finalists they demanded, and also got their lowest-rated finale ever. "Hope" they're happy!
Your muscles weren't the issue. Your inability to dance was.
Sadly, Hope just wasn't a very good dancer and did often look very awkward.