‘Dancing with the Stars 23’: Derek Hough talks taking on Ryan Lochte protesters

There is still no doubting in our mind that what happened on Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” is among the top two or three craziest things we’ve ever seen on the show, as protesters tried to completely destroy Ryan Lochte’s first night in the ballroom. Two people tried to rush the stage, and even after that there were still some people protesting in the ballroom who were eventually forced out.

As it turns out, one of the people responsible for making sure they left was pro dancer Derek Hough (pictured above), who came back out from backstage and confronted the people about the stunt. Speaking to People Magazine after the fact, Derek had the following to say:

“This is my home and I was just so shocked that people would come here and be so negative … This is a safe place for people to learn a new skill and seek redemption or start a new chapter in their life and that’s what Ryan is trying to do and I just felt so defensive that someone would try and ruin that for him and for everyone watching, so I took it upon myself to make sure they were escorted out. I wanted to protect my home.”

Meanwhile, Lochte himself told E! News that it was “hard” dealing with that, adding that it felt like “someone reached inside and ripped my heart out and stepped on it.” Obviously, the swimmer probably expected there to be some blowback to his casting given what happened in Rio, but he likely expected more of that to take place on social media.

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