Nyle DiMarco Is Only Remaining ‘DWTS’ Contestant Without Past Dance Experience, Ginger Zee Lied About Hers

Nyle DiMarco is going to have his work cut out for him during next week’s Dancing with the Stars finals: The deaf America’s Next Top Model winner is the only remaining contestant with no prior dance experience.

Nyle DiMarco will face off against ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee and UFC fighter Paige VanZant next Monday on Dancing with the Stars. Not being able to hear the music he’s dancing to or his partner’s voice has put Nyle at a disadvantage from the start, but being deaf isn’t Nyle’s biggest concern going into the finals. While talking to Glamour after last night’s show, Nyle DiMarco admitted that his competition’s pre-Dancing with the Stars dance experience makes him worried about how he’ll measure up against them.

“I’ve never had any dance experience, which makes me a little nervous that [Paige and Ginger] have a little advantage over me. I don’t know. We just have to bring that out [next] week,” Nyle said.

As Buddy TV reports, Paige VanZant fessed up to having past dance experiencing during one of last night’s video packages. Her mother was a dance teacher, so Paige started taking lessons when she was very young. However, Mark Ballas doesn’t think that Dancing with the Stars fans should hold this against her. During his post-performance interview with Glamour, Mark defended Paige from critics who think it’s unfair that she has some previous dance experience.

“I feel like there’s [other] people here that have dance experience,” Mark said. “This is Dancing with the Stars, and not Dancing with the Stars Who Have Never Taken a Dance Class In Their Life. It’s virtually impossible to find 12 people in the public eye—whether it’s an athlete, entertainer, singer, actor, performer, etc.—that has never taken a dance class. [Paige] took jazz when she was a kid. She has zero ballroom experience, never danced with a partner.”

Mark Ballas was likely thinking of Ginger Zee when he mentioned that other Season 22 competitors have past dance experience. In a 2015 Facebook post, the Good Morning America weather anchor revealed that she was a member of the Valparaiso University dance team in college.

Ginger Zee could argue that she had just as much ballroom dance experience as Paige VanZant and Nyle DiMarco coming into Dancing with the Stars, but she can’t claim that she has no dance experience at all. However, she did just that during an interview with People.

“I was nervous coming out here as this new mom with no dance experience,” Ginger said after her first Dancing with the Stars performance.

Going into the finals, Nyle DiMarco’s only worry might not be Ginger and Paige’s previous dance experience. As Hollywood Life reports, some Dancing with the Stars fans are starting to suspect that Ginger will waltz away with the Mirrorball Trophy no matter what happens because she works for ABC, the same network that Dancing with the Stars airs on. Most of these unhappy fans think that Boyz II Men singer Wanya Morris should be the third dancer in the finals with Nyle DiMarco and Paige VanZant.

First and only #DWTS tweet: I’m convinced @ABCNetwork wants Ginger Zee win. And I don’t like that. They’re pushing her hard. No Bueno.

— B (@BPJohnson16) May 17, 2016

No disrespect to @Ginger_Zee, was a fan of her work here in Chicago but uh, she works for the network that airs #DWTS. So if she wins…

— Bioncé Foxx (@bioncefoxx) May 17, 2016

#DWTS has done their job to make sure Ginger Zee wins. I’m done watching DTWS forever I am so disgusted, Wanye should be in the finals

— Babette Davie (@BbiD) May 17, 2016

Seriously @DancingABC how did Ginger Zee make it to the finale? Oh I know it’s because she works for ABC. #DWTSrigged #Wanyagotcheated

— Candice B (@QueenCapricorn) May 17, 2016

Nyle DiMarco might not have past dance experience or be an ABC employee, but his pro partner, Peta Murgatroyd, does keep finding creative ways to help him stand out from the competition. He performed without music for a few beats of last week’s episode of Dancing with the Stars, and this week he was blindfolded during a portion of his Argentine Tango. He and Peta scored a perfect 30 for that routine, but the 27 they earned for their trio dance wasn’t enough to help them land at the top of the leaderboard. Paige and Mark earned this honor with their combined total of 59, while Ginger and Val finished third with a score of 56.

Do you think Nyle DiMarco’s lack of past dance experience will hurt him in the Dancing with the Stars finals?

[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Earl Enterprises]