Dancing with the Stars pro Rylee Arnold sits out 2026 live tour, citing health reasons & diabetes management

Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Rylee Arnold has announced her decision to sit out the 2026 DWTS Live Tour to focus on her health, particularly to manage her Type 1 diabetes.

This is the first time in three years that Arnold will not participate in the tour, a decision she described as heartbreaking but important. 

She mentioned that managing her Type 1 diabetes on the road can be challenging, and after careful consideration, she chose to focus on her health this year.

20-year-old Rylee Arnold shared her decision with fans and viewers through an Instagram Story on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, writing,

"So sad I won’t be on the DWTS tour this year. Being on tour the last two years was seriously the most amazing experience ever. I’ve made the best memories and met the best people.

This year, I had to make the hard decision to sit it out and focus on my health, especially with managing my Type 1 diabetes, which can be tricky on the road."

Dancing with the Stars fame Rylee Arnold was diagnosed with diabetes at 15

Rylee Arnold is currently paired with singer Scott Hoying, a member of the cappella group Pentatonix. They both scored a 21 out of 30 points for their salsa performance on Bop to the Top from High School Musical on the latest episode of Dancing with the Stars season 34.

On missing the upcoming tour, Arnold said on Tuesday's episode that,

"I’m gonna miss it SO much, but I’ll definitely be cheering everyone on and can’t wait to come watch."

She was 15 years old when she got diagnosed with diabetes, opening up occasionally on the struggles and challenges while managing it to prevent it from hampering hr performances.

Rylee nearly went into a diabetic coma when her blood sugar dropped during a dance competition in her youth.

She recalled her initial diagnosis while talking to Women's Health in 2024, saying,

"Those were the hardest three days of my life

The reality set in on how difficult managing this disease was going to be and how much it was going to change everything. Every 20 minutes, a new person would come in and tell me something new. It was so overwhelming. My biggest thought was, ‘Am I going to be able to dance again?"

Rylee Arnold then later decided to get a Dexcom, a wearable device to monitor her glucose levels all the time, as it is attached to her lower abdomen.

In a TikTok video posted on her page in response to a fan asking her about why her Dexcom device is never visible, Rylee revealed about last season's scary instance when her blood sugar surged during a performance with partner Stephen Nedoroscik.

She said she got a cramp during the first move in their dance, and further explained the situation by saying,

"And my calf cramped up because it was so dehydrated because my blood sugar was high. And it was the worst, because the whole dance I was trying to shake it off and get it to go back to normal. And it just wouldn’t and it was the worst thing ever."

The 2026 DWTS Live Tour starts on January 22, 2026, at Akron Civic Theater in Ohio and will continue for more than four months before wrapping up at Salt Lake City’s Eccles Theater on May 2, 2026.

Professional dancers and stars Emma Slater, Val Chmerkovskiy, Britt Stewart, Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Pasha Pashkov, Ezra Sosa, and troupe member Hailey Bills will join the tour.

Dancing with the Stars ​​​​​​co-host Julianne Hough revealed the tour details during Tuesday’s live broadcast on the October 7, 2025, episode, announcing that,

"Listen up, we’ve got a big announcement. You can see all of these pros in person this winter, along with the stars of the show, in the all-new Dancing With the Stars tour, directed by Mandy Moore.

Tickets go on sale to the public this Friday, October 10. Dancing With the Stars superfans, though, have presale access as early as tomorrow. … It just gets better and better — and with all the buzz of this season, I’m sure it’s [going] to sell out like, literally, now."

Dancing With the Stars streams on  Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with new episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.

Stay tuned for more updates.