Lindsay Arnold was a familiar face on the small screen for the better part of a decade as a pro dancer on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, even winning Season 25 with singer Jordan Fisher. She stepped away from the spotlight in 2023 when she announced her exit from DWTS, and she hasn’t returned to the cast. Instead, she’s built a very different life for herself in Utah, well away from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, with her husband and two daughters. Now, she’s opened up about the decisions that led her there as just one more TV star to leave Hollywood like Modern Family alum Ariel Winter did.
The DWTS pro was born and raised in Utah, marrying her high school sweetheart when she was just 21 back in 2015. She worked in Los Angeles for years for DWTS, but building their family together eventually meant relocating from LA for Arnold. Speaking with People, she shared about what changed after the birth of first child:
A lot of my priorities and where I wanted to spend my time… it just shifted. My mindset shifted. Time goes 10 times faster when you have kids, and I just know that this time is so precious and something that you don’t get back. … I did want to have a sense of accomplishment within the show knowing that, ‘Okay, if we do have kids and I don’t come back, do I feel like I fulfilled what I hope to do?’ I did feel like I was at that point. We honestly were probably past the point of being ready. We were like, ‘Okay, we really want this now,’ and I’m glad we waited for that time because it felt so right for us.
Lindsay Arnold achieved that “sense of accomplishment” when she and Jordan Fisher came out on top in DWTS Season 25, although her next – and possibly last? – four seasons were less successful. Still, she seemingly has no regrets about leaving that life behind for the sake of her kids in Utah and switched gears to become a social media content creator. At the time of writing, she has around 2.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Her social media audience hasn’t always been the kindest, to the point that she had to address all the commentary about her C-section scar while still on DWTS. More recently, the dancer went on to elaborate on why leaving Los Angeles wasn’t too hard on her, because she never truly felt at home there. Arnold said:
To be honest, I actually never, ever loved or embraced Hollywood in a sense of where I’d want to live. Loved everything about what it offered to me, what it did for my career, what I was able to do out there, but I was actually always the pro that, in between seasons, [who] would sneak back to Utah to be with my family. This has always been where I know I want to raise my family. Growing up in Utah, the city life was never for me. But like I said, I know that my life would not be where it is without that time, and so I am so grateful.
She made it clear that she feels no ill will toward the show that made her a household name among DWTS fans, even if working in LA never felt quite like home. Plus, she revisited the show throughout Season 33 to support younger sister Rylee Arnold and her Olympian partner, a.k.a. Stephen “Pommel Horse Guy” Nedoroscik. Although Rylee and Nedoroscik came in fourth and former Bachelor star Joey Graziadei was Season 33 champion, they had the full support of Lindsay, including for their finale performances:
While ABC hasn’t announced a premiere date for Dancing with the Stars Season 34 in the 2025 TV schedule, it’s a safe bet that Lindsay Arnold will be watching rather than dancing. If Rylee returns as a pro dancer, surely she’ll have the support of her older sister! DWTS will likely return in September, as new seasons have premiered in mid-to-late September every year since 2018. As for the Season 25 pro dance champion, Lindsay Arnold seems perfectly satisfied with her life in Utah with her family and content creation.