Rylee Arnold loves following in her big sister Lindsay Arnold’s footsteps as a Dancing With the Stars pro — but what would it take for them to compete on the same season?
Rylee, 21, exclusively told Us on Wednesday, August 5, that she’s not sure Lindsay, 32, would step back into the ballroom after retiring from the ABC series in 2021, but she hasn’t given up hope.
“I think it’s a ‘no’ on her end, just because she is so established in her life,” Rylee explained while promoting her partnership with Dexcom and work as a Dexcom Warrior. “She is a boss woman, and she also has beautiful kids at home, and she’s just loving life doing everything that she’s doing.”
Rylee confessed that it would “take some serious convincing” to get Lindsay back as a pro.
“But honestly, it would be a huge dream of mine, and it would make the season so fun,” Rylee told Us of possibly competing against Lindsay for the first time on DWTS. “I will say it to her until she does it, and if she never does, I’ll just be sad.”
The Utah native teased that she was pushing for Lindsay to come out of retirement throughout Dancing With the Stars Con 2026, which was held in Palm Springs, California, from Friday, July 31, to Sunday, August 2.
“I was saying every day, like, ‘Please, just be on this season with me. Like, pretty please, just come back. You can do it,’” Rylee revealed, noting she is convinced that “eventually” Lindsay will make a comeback.
Lindsay made her DWTS debut in 2013 for season 16. She remained on the show as a pro through season 28 — missing seasons 17 to 20 when she was a troupe member and season 29 during her pregnancy with baby No. 1. Lindsay returned as a pro for season 30, after which she left the show in 2021.
Lindsay won the mirrorball trophy during season 25 with Jordan Fisher.
Rylee, meanwhile, began her DWTS journey on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors in 2018. She joined the OG series in 2023 for season 32. She returned for seasons 33 and 34 and is expected to be part of the season 35 pros, which have yet to be announced ahead of the September premiere.
While Lindsay and Rylee’s paths as pros on DWTS have not crossed, the sisters teamed up on Saturday, August 1, for a special performance at the Dancing With the Stars Con 2026.
Their routine to 1954’s “Sisters” came just seven weeks after Lindsay welcomed her third baby, son Hayes, in June. (Lindsay also shares daughters Sage, 5, and June, 3, with husband Samuel Cusick.)
“I loved having my sister Lindsay back with me, and, like, I wish so bad she would do a season with me because it would just make it 1,000 times better,” Rylee told Us of the special moment. “But she’s just the best. It was so fun to be able to have a fan experience for everybody.”
Rylee noted that it “meant so much” to dance with Lindsay on such a public stage.
“I’ve always looked up to Lindsay my whole life,” Rylee gushed. “So the fact that I was able to share the stage with her and to have that opportunity to just have her there to just support me and love me and hype me up [was great].”
She added that having her nieces and nephew at the convention brought the “family” aspect to the forefront.
“It’s just something you need in a job like I have is people around you that just make you feel sane,” Rylee explained. “They make you feel loved, and that’s exactly what she is.”
Rylee has always been surrounded by love from her family, which she said has made her ups and downs with diabetes much easier to manage.
The professional dancer, who uses the Dexcom G7 glucose monitor every day, told Us that she has learned how to prioritize her health while performing.
“I’m now on a continuous insulin pump,” Rylee said, revealing that she needed to step back from the Dancing With the Stars Tour to better manage her health. “I recently got my blood checked, and there’s this A1C number, and it basically tells you how healthy you are, and it’s dropped down tremendously.”
She said she is “fixing that part of my life” so that filming season 35 is “much easier” to manage.
“It made the con weekend much easier, and I’m just excited to have that alleviated a little bit because I hate when that adds to my stress and just makes things so much harder,” Rylee continued. “But I feel like I worked so much on my mental health and my physical health this season, and I was able to just get ready for that.”
Rylee utilizes her Dexcom G7 monitor — worn on the back of her arm — to integrate with her insulin pump, which helps her manage her diabetes with ease. Her family even uses the Dexcom Follow app to track her glucose levels alongside the dancer during travel, rehearsal and shows.
Like other Dexcom Warriors, including Nick Jonas and Lance Bass, Rylee is committed to raising awareness about living with diabetes.
“Right when I was diagnosed, I didn’t think I was going to dance anymore. I thought I was going to have to stop doing it and fully just devote my life to managing my health,” Rylee told Us, revealing that with tools like the Dexcom G7 monitor and her insulin pump, she hasn’t had to let go of her dream.
She concluded, “I feel like I finally am at a point where I understand how to manage my type 1 diabetes. … It was about, like, six years it took me to really get adjusted [and] understand how I react to things, how my body reacts to things, and I finally feel like I’m ready to go.”
Get more information about Dexcom at their official website.
