Ryan Lochte Suspended for 10 Months as Swimmer Tries to Move Forward on Dancing With the Stars

Team USA gold medalist receives sanctions from the Olympics committee

By Mike Vulpo Sep 08, 2016 12:44 AMTags
Watch: Ryan Lochte Ready to Compete on "DWTS" After Rio Scandal

Ryan Lochte is still facing the consequences from his actions at the Summer Olympics.

The U.S. Olympic Committee And USA Swimming announced Thursday that the gold medalist has been suspended for 10 months. The other swimmers involved with the robbery controversy received shorter sentences of four months.

Just last month, Ryan apologized for his actions during an interview with Today's Matt Lauer. He also expressed regret at his behavior with his teammates.

"I'm taking full responsibility for it because I overexaggerated that story and if I never did that, we wouldn't be in this mess," he shared. "Those guys would never be in Rio. None of this would have happened. It was my immature behavior."

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Ryan Lochte Hanging with Celebrities
Matt Hazlett/Getty Images

Ryan added, "All I know is that I learned my lesson, I definitely did. These kind of shenanigans or whatever you want to call them will never happen again and I love this sport. I dedicated my whole entire life to it and it's not who I am. I'm not done with this sport. There is still more I want to accomplish. All I know is I'm going to move forward from this and learn from this and better myself in making sure this never happens again."

That next chapter involves a little moving and shaking on ABC's long-running series Dancing With the Stars. Before Monday's season premiere, E! News chatted with Ryan and his partner Cheryl Burke to get a sense of their mindset going into the ballroom. From the sounds of things, this athlete just wants to move forward with a new adventure.

"I think it was a low point in my life, but I was able to get over it and I had a good support group with me," Ryan shared with E! News when reflecting on his summer drama. "A lot of people have given me a lot of positive vibes to just keep pushing me through so I'm putting that behind me and now I'm here to dance."

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Meet Dancing With the Stars' Season 23 Cast

A photo posted by Cheryl Burke (@cherylburke) on

And if you're curious to know if Ryan's diet differs between swimming and dancing, you may be surprised to find out the answer.

"Ryan loves to eat junk food. He will just eat Taco Bell. He loves drinking Mountain Dew and he loves pizza and wings every Friday," Cheryl confessed to E! News at Planet Hollywood Times Square. "His body is still out of control and totally in shape but he eats like crap. I just don't understand."

Hey Dominos, are you free Monday night for a late-night delivery?

Dancing With the Stars season 23 premieres Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. on ABC.