'DWTS' Feud Explodes Backstage! Why Nyle DiMarco Is A Target
Apr. 14 2016, Published 10:14 a.m. ET
The competition is getting intense on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars! As the contestants prepare for couples-swap week next week, an on-set source told RadarOnline.com exclusively that this season's frontrunner – 26-year-old ANTM model winner, Nyle DiMarco – is absolutely dreading the switch! Click through seven photos to learn why the other contestants continue to throw shade at DiMarco and what his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, said that made the backstage feud nastier than ever before!
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”: Season 22 – Week Two
As previously reported, this season's deaf contestant, DiMarco, has been stirring up a lot of tension behind the scenes of DWTS. But it is not his actions that have the other contestants so furious – it is the fact that he and his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, 29, have scored nearly perfect scores so far with their dances.
NYLE DIMARCO, PETA MURGATROYD
According to a production source, "The other guys on set used to just shun Nyle, but it has gotten to the point where they are just flat-out rude now! No one even tries to engage with him anymore. Granted, he is deaf, but they used to all at least just say 'hello' or tell him that he was doing a great job. There is no longer any of that going on."
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”: Season 22 – Week Four
On Monday's episode, Murgatroyd – who is engaged to 30-year-old dance mentor Val Chmerkovskiy's older brother Maksim, 36 – scored a top score with their Samba dance. Judge Bruno Tonioli, 60, gushed, "The lord of the jungle is now the lord of the dance," referring to DiMarco, who was wearing nothing but a loin cloth.
JDRF 43rd Annual Promise Ball
But it wasn't DiMarco's outfit (or lack thereof) that upset Murgatroyd's man! "Peta and her fiancé's younger brother Val had it out because he told Maksim that Peta was getting too emotionally attached to Nyle," the source told Radar. "There is so much drama right now because Peta is constantly fighting with her castmates because it seems like they are all out to get Nyle."
According to the insider, there could be some truth to that! "Nyle's competitors are trying to shut him down," the source claimed, adding, "He is the strongest competitor right now and because of that he is getting a lot of heat from the other dancers."
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”: Season 22 – Week Three
"Peta is being fiercely protective over Nyle because she has to be," the insider told Radar. "She has a lot invested in this and in him. Everyone is trying to start sh*t with the both of them and it is just making Nyle work harder. He is in it to win it."
ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”: Season 22 – Week Three
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