Rylee Arnold is one of Dancing With the Stars’ newest professional dancers. She began her career on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors with her sister, former pro Lindsay Arnold being her mentor, and became the only dancer from the one-season series to become a pro on DWTS. Season 32 saw Rylee partnered with Perfect Match’s Harry Jowsey. For Season 33, she partnered with Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik.
Since finding herself in the spotlight, Rylee has opened up to her fans about more personal aspects of her life. In October, she “hard launched” her relationship with USC football player Walker Lyons. She’s also spoken openly about her health, specifically, being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Living with diabetes has not stopped Rylee one bit. She’s become a huge inspiration to others to never give up on their dreams.
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Rylee Arnold Was Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes 3 Years Ago
Before Rylee Arnold competed in her second season of Dancing With the Stars, she gave her fans a little more insight into her private life, which included living with Type 1 Diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, Type 1 diabetes is a condition where “your immune system mistakenly treats the beta cells in your pancreas that create insulin as foreign invaders and destroys them. When enough beta cells are destroyed, your pancreas can’t make insulin or makes so little if it that you need to take insulin to live.”
On Instagram in May, Rylee shared how she had been living with diabetes for three years now, something that DWTS fans may not have known. Calling it “one of the hardest times” of her life when she was diagnosed, Rylee didn’t allow it to stop her from continuing to live out her dance career.
“Although it was one of the hardest times in my life and one of the biggest learning curves for me, I’m incredibly grateful for the strength it has given me!”
In her post, she looked back at last year and everything that she had accomplished while living with diabetes, which included performing on her first season on DWTS. Her photos also included the dancer wearing her insulin patch while competing on the show.
“I remember when I was first diagnosed I didn’t want my diagnosis to stop me from living my dreams and working hard for the things I wanted. The fact that I have had the most amazing year, fulfilling my biggest dreams, makes me so grateful and happy!”
Rylee concluded her post by telling her fans and followers that she hoped to “be an inspiration to so many of you.” She added, “I just want you guys to know that nothing can ever stop you from achieving your dreams.”
Rylee and her
DWTS
partner Harry Jowsey finished in 6th place on Season 32. On
Dancing With the Stars: Juniors
, Rylee and her partner, Miles Brown, came in 2nd.
In the comment section of her Instagram post, her followers shared their personal stories of living with diabetes. Fans also called Rylee an “inspiration.”
- “You are such an inspiration!!! My brother has been Type 1 since he was 4 years old and now my husband may be Type 1. It is definitely life changing.”
- “Girl what?!?! How did I not know this! Love! Diabetes may be part of our lives but it does NOT define us!”
- “It is so inspiring that you are using your platform to talk about your diagnosis! You will encourage so many other type 1 patients who look up to you! Bravo!!!”
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Rylee Shared How She Found Out She Had Diabetes
In January 2023, Rylee shared how she found out she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in a TikTok. While doing her makeup, the professional dancer shared how the signs of being tired, hungry, and thirsty from her hectic dance schedule were ultimately the signs that she had diabetes. However, Rylee brushed it off because she believed it was just her busy dance career making her feel this way.
“My symptoms basically were pretty bad.”
Rylee shared that she would use the bathroom excessively throughout the day and was constantly drinking water. “I would also eat so much, but I was losing so much weight, so it was kind of scary,” she said.
The dancer stated that before she was diagnosed with the condition, she saw a TikTok that shared the symptoms of diabetes. Rylee checked every box and decided to share the clip with her family. At first, they also believed Rylee did not have diabetes because it did not run in her family. However, Rylee suffered a very scary incident where she blacked out while eating lunch with a friend. Rylee shared that she was eating various sugary beverages and loads of carbohydrates at the time. Her dad finally decided it was time to get her checked out.
“So I go get my blood sugar checked, and it was 1023, like, I was literally on my deathbed. For reference, you’re supposed to e 80-120. I got into the hospital and I was there for three days.”
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Rylee Wants To Be An Inspiration To Others Who Have Diabetes
In July, Rylee was a guest on The Squeeze podcast where she shared with host Taylor Dome her journey with diabetes. Taylor mentioned how there have not been many celebrities who have come out and shared their stories of living with diabetes, with the only star she could think of during her time growing up being Nick Jonas.
Nick first spoke publicly about having Type 1 diabetes in 2007 during a performance, although he had been living with the condition since 2005. Since then, he has advocated for diabetes by sharing his personal journey.
Rylee was inspired to join
DWTS
because of her older sister, Lindsay Arnold. She would attend live tapings of the show. Lindsay has competed in 11 seasons and won the mirrorball trophy in Season 25 with her partner Jordan Fisher.
Recalling how she had found out she had diabetes as a young teen and had to change her life around, Rylee told the host, “It consumed every single part of my mind at this point. It’s this whole thing I had to think about, and it’s crazy that, like, I had to change that, at 16.”
Rylee also shared that finding out she was going to live the rest of her life with diabetes was frustrating, at first. “Why did this have to happen to me?” The dancer told Taylor. However, Rylee, who is a religious person, said that through prayer and enlightenment, she began seeing her condition as a way to inspire others.
“This can be such a big inspiration to so many people. I thought my life was over, I thought everything was going to change, I wasn’t going to be able to dance … But little did I know that one day I can speak about it, I can be a big person that has Type 1 but can still so what they’re doing in life.”
“You can have a normal life. You can still follow your dreams with diabetes. It should not stop you whatsoever,” she shared.
Dancing with the Stars is a popular dancing competition reality TV show airing on ABC and Disney+. The series features various celebrities who pair with professional dancers to compete in front of a panel of judges. The US version of the UK TV show Strictly Come Dancing premiered in 2005 and was originally hosted by Tom Bergeron for its first 28 seasons.
- Release Date
- June 1, 2005
- Main Genre
- Reality
