Former Dancing With the Stars pro Lindsay Arnold made a surprise appearance during the season 33 finale on Tuesday, November 26.
Fans were shook following Rylee Arnold and Stephen Nedoroscik’s Freestyle dance when they ran up to the skybox and Lindsay, 30, was standing at the top of the stairs. She embraced Rylee, 19, with tears in her eyes for a sweet sister moment.
Lindsay continued to cry as she stood behind Rylee and Stephen, 26, while they received their scores. The pair received a 30 out of 30 for their Freestyle to “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. As the judges — Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli — held up their “10” paddles, Lindsay could be seen jumping up and down in the background and cheering for her sister.
Tuesday’s DWTS finale marked a major milestone for Rylee as it was the first time she made it to the final round since making her debut on the series last year.
Ahead of the live show, Lindsay shared a sweet tribute to her sister.
“IT’S TIME!!!!!!! Everyone please please take a minute to vote for my baby sis @ryleearnold1 so that her and @stephen_nedoroscik can take home that mirrorball trophy tonight on @dancingwiththestars !!!!” she captioned a series of Instagram photos. “Text STEPHEN to 21523 up to 10 times.”
lindsay arnold in the skybox crying for her little sister :’) #dwts pic.twitter.com/76eB7zLijE
— talia (@selsjackets) November 27, 2024
Lindsay, for her part, was a professional dancer on the show for six seasons before announcing in August 2023 that she was taking a step back to focus on her family life. (She shares two kids, 3-year-old daughter Sage and 17-month-old daughter June with husband Sam Cusick.)
The dancer confirmed in September that she would not be returning for season 33 but did exclusively tell Us Weekly that she wasn’t ruling out a cameo — which came Tuesday night.
“I would love to [make an appearance],” Lindsay said earlier this year. “That’s the kind of thing that would be perfect for me right now. So [I] definitely have already expressed, I’d love to be there if it ever makes sense or needs to happen or whatever.”
She said it’s been “really fun” to cheer on sister Rylee as she continues to appear on the show. “I’ll be backstage with Sage cheering everybody on,” Lindsay added.
The three-hour Dancing With the Stars season 33 finale aired on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, November 26, at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream the episode on Disney+ the next day.
