Ryan Lochte Still In Hot Water, Michael Phelps To Appear On ‘America’s Got Talent’

While America may not be ready to forgive Ryan Lochte’s recent antics while at the Rio Summer Games, fellow swimmer Michael Phelps appears to be basking in the sunshine and has been welcomed to appear on NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

Now known as the “most decorated Olympian of all time” and with 23 Olympic gold medals to his name, Michael Phelps will appear as co-host for the live telecast of America’s Got Talent on Wednesday, August 24 at 9:00 p.m.

Fam! @MichaelPhelps is hanging out on @nbcagt tonight! The best Olympian of all-time! #AGTat9

— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) August 24, 2016

Meanwhile, Ryan Lochte, still smarting from his highly promoted gas station robbery story scandal, is waiting things out for a while.

“Ryan is not planning on doing anything big at this moment. He is trying to let the dust settle for now,” a source told E! News. “He is taking a break from swimming for a little bit, but will get back at training when he feels up to it. He is not giving up, he just is very overwhelmed what has happened.”

The source went on to say that while Lochte waits to get back into America’s good graces, he has been receiving support from his family.

“He has his family for emotional support, but they even have given him some tough love. He was in Los Angeles just minding his business and hiding out with his lady friend. He wants to put all of this behind him. He knows it will take a while for people to look past everything that has happen over the past two weeks, but he hopes people understand he made a stupid mistake.”

E! News also reported earlier this week that Lochte “feels like his life is crumbling under him,” and losing all of his sponsorships has made things even worse.

While Lochte is licking his self-inflicted wounds, Michael Phelps appears to be all smiles back home celebrating with his fiancee and son Boomer. However, Phelps knows what it feels like to be involved in a scandal. Photos of the swimmer smoking pot from a bong spread like wildfire in 2009. He took responsibility for his actions, but was touched by scandal again when he was pulled over for his second DUI in 2014, received a suspension from the USA swimming team for his actions, and then checked into a rehab facility for treatment. Ironically, Ryan Lochte was quoted at the time as not being concerned about Phelp’s actions and said, “He just makes dumb decisions…but he will become smarter from this.”

Now 31 years of age, it appears that Michael has learned his lessons. The 32-year-old Lochte, on the other hand, is still learning. E! News also points out that the public now sees Phelps as a family man while Lochte could be confused with a reckless frat boy. A source told the outlet just before the Games had started “Ryan is not looking for a relationship during this Olympics. He just is looking to have fun.”

However, there is at least one fellow teammate who is still on Ryan’s side. E! News also reported that Gold medalist Conor Dwyer told Maria Menounos on Sirius XN Stars that Lochte is “genuinely a good guy” who just got caught up in a big mistake. Dwyer was actually hanging out with Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen before the whole gas station incident took place, but he decided to go to a different party instead.

“I was with them for like an hour, and I just wanted to go check out another place,” he recalled. “They were staying at the France house, so I didn’t see really anything of the night.” He, like the rest of America, was surprised to learn of the incident.

“I wouldn’t expect that out of him,” he said. “I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve trained with him, been teammates with him, and he’s genuinely a good guy, so it hurts to see him in this position and make a mistake like that. It’s just bad stuff happens to good people, and I’m sure they’ll bounce back from it.”

Lochte could indeed bounce back. He hasn’t ruled out a return to the pool for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and perhaps by then he will have different words of wisdom to share with his fellow teammates. In addition, there are a few reports that Lochte could be one of the next contestants on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

JUST IN: Ryan Lochte likely to appear on next season of “Dancing With The Stars” https://t.co/Phgh9BN2EL

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 24, 2016

[Photo by Michael Sohn/AP Images]