May 9 (UPI) — Simone Biles responded bluntly after being criticized this week on “Dancing with the Stars.”
The 20-year-old Olympic gymnast reacted on Monday’s episode after judges said she didn’t bring enough emotion to her routines with Sasha Farber.
“Smiling doesn’t win you gold medals,” she said after host Tom Bergeron asked her why the judges’ more positive feedback didn’t elicit a smile.
Biles and Farber scored a 36 with their foxtrot and a 36 with their paso doble, but have yet to receive a perfect 40 in competition. The four-time Olympic gold medalist voiced her disappointment after the show.
“I feel like everyone has their own opinion, clearly, but it’s just how you take it,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I feel like I am trying, I am being honest. If they don’t see that, I don’t know what else more I can do.”
“I just know how hard this girl works,” Farber added. “Each week she comes in and she delivers something different. There’s a lot of expectation on her shoulders, and we’re just gonna go back in the studio and keep digging.”
Professional bull rider Bonner Bolton was ultimately eliminated on Monday’s episode. Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy earned a perfect score with their contemporary routine after the Fifth Harmony singer recounted how she was bullied online.
