UCLA senior Jordan Chiles is managing a busy schedule this fall as she balances her academic responsibilities, gymnastics training, and participation in season 34 of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Chiles, an African American studies major and member of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team, spoke to UCLA Newsroom about her experience competing on the show while preparing for the upcoming NCAA gymnastics season.
“I’ve just had a fun experience,” Chiles said. “My partner, Ezra (Sosa), has been remarkable, and I’ve just enjoyed literally everything about it. It’s a dream come true. As a little kid, I watched the show, and to be on it just means everything.”
Chiles and Sosa recently tied for first place on the show’s leaderboard. Their main competitors include wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and reality star Whitney Leavitt.
Despite her television commitments, Chiles continues to train with her teammates at UCLA. She described having her fellow gymnasts attend live tapings: “The girls are having a magnificent time. A few times, I was able to bring some of the pros that they wanted me to — they would text me, like, ‘Hey, can we meet so and so?’ I think it’s really cool just to let them have that opportunity of being in that space. So they really enjoyed it, and they had fun, for sure.”
Some professional dancers from “Dancing With the Stars” have visited UCLA gymnastics practices as well. Chiles explained: “Yes, some of the pro dancers definitely did. My own partner, Ezra, was able to come and watch. And then Val (Chmerkovskiy) did as well… We call it ‘celebrity Sundays’ because the majority of the time they come in on Sundays. So it’s really cool just to see them light up and have fun with it.”
Asked if she has taught any dance routines to her teammates, Chiles responded: “I have not taught them any of my routines, but I did see that Val was teaching Tiana (Sumanasekera) the whisk. That was really cool… They keep asking me and I’m like, ‘Uh, let me find a day that I could process which dance that you guys can learn.’”
To manage her workload between academics and extracurricular activities during her senior year at UCLA, Chiles coordinated with university staff: “This quarter, I told my coaches and my academic counselor ‘Hey, can we make sure everything is online? Because that’s going to be the easiest for me.’ And so I have all of my stuff online… But (balancing it all has) been really fun. It’s my senior year so I’m trying to enjoy the best of it and just really finish everything out as strongly as possible.”
Reflecting on her time at UCLA ahead of graduation next spring (https://commencement.ucla.edu/), Chiles said: “Knowing that it’s my senior year… yes they were fast but I got to enjoy them and really dive deep into relationships… know that I’m always going to be a Bruin no matter what — it’s going to be bittersweet for sure.”
She also commented on what stands out most about participating in “Dancing With the Stars”: “There are a lot of different things that I feel like you don’t think would be on a reality TV show… we all know this is a competition but at end of it as long as we can support each other outside (is important).”
Chiles added about backstage camaraderie: “Yes for sure we all know that it is a competition — obviously we all want to win a mirror ball — but I think best thing is just being able have relationship with everyone whether it’s celebrity whether it’s pro whether it’s show crew… that’s what makes it really fun and enjoyable.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
