AJ Pritchard‘s fiancee Zara Zoffany is speaking out about the drama she caused online.
We’ll break it down for you here if you don’t know what went down with the Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro contestant and Rylee Arnold.
During an August 2026 episode of the DWTS spinoff show, Rylee Arnold was paired with AJ Pritchard.
Rylee provided some critique of AJ‘s teaching style, saying she felt he would criticize without providing positive feedback.
She said of his teaching style: “At the beginning, I felt that lightheartedness, but I will say, he’s kind of intense. I don’t know if he’s going to be able to give that affirmation to somebody. It was just constant critiques.”
AJ’s fiancée, Zara Zoffany, then publicly called Rylee out, and shared her comment on Instagram Story: “[AJ] would not have had to critique you in the first place if everything had been right,” she wrote. “Dancing with Bailey last week showed how he danced with an amateur & their dance was amazing. This week was [supposed] to be dancing with a Pro… Very different dynamics & what people didn’t see in rehearsals was that you injured him when you hit him in the head, leaving him with a slight concussion and needing to see a physio. They showed Steph accidentally hitting Natalie, but somehow, because you’re a pro, that wasn’t included in the edit. That said, AJ’s criticism has always been constructive, and he wouldn’t have needed to give it if something hadn’t been wrong. I hope you were able to take something positive and useful from his teaching and feedback.”
In an August 31, 2026 post, Zara Zoffany apologized to Rylee Arnold and explained her post
Zara said in a TikTok video that she was quite frustrated throughout the season about comments she was seeing regarding her fiance.
She said that “when I got to the Rylee edit, I was already up to here with how they’ve perceived him with the villain edit, with all the criticism, all the comments, all the TikToks.”
She shared, “I just want to make it clear that I never said she wasn’t qualified. I think that stemmed from Ezra’s reply, which I totally get when your best friend sticks up for you, saying that she’s more than qualified.”
“Rylee, from the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry if I made you feel like a certain type of way. That was never my intention,” she said.
Zara then said she’d been receiving hateful comments: “I really don’t think that the message I wrote deserved this, and I feel like I don’t deserve this.”
Judge Shirley Ballas also responded to the shade.
Posted To:AJ Pritchard Zara Zoffany
