Under the starry lights of Dancing With the Stars, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles electrified week 7 with a contemporary routine to Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart,’ earning a strong 34/40 from the judges (two 9s and two 8s) and an extra 4 points in the Dance Monster-thon for a total of 38/40. Amid the pressure of primetime competition, Chiles found solace in a familiar support system.

During a recent conversation with the UCLA Newsroom, the Olympic gold medalist discussed how it felt to have some of her Bruins teammates cheer for her during the taping of the show. Chiles said, “I think the biggest thing for me about this show is just having the support.” The show may be a prime-time giant and a big ratings pull, but having supportive teammates in the studio created a whole other energy.

“Knowing that my teammates (have been) able to come to the shows just means everything, because I’m not always there — especially on Mondays and Tuesdays — to do practice with them. And so having their support in the crowd just means everything,” continued Chiles.

Several teammates have shown up across different episodes, including Carissa Clay, Jordis Eichman, Sasha Fujisaka, Nola Matthews, and Madisyn Anyimi. They documented the whole experience on UCLA Gymnastics’ Instagram page, urging followers to tune in and vote for Chiles and partner, Ezra Sosa.

Aside from supporting their team member and soaking in the broadcast live, the Bruins who turned up were able to enjoy some additional perks thanks to Chiles. “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,” she added.

As the competition heats up, Chiles continues to draw strength from the support around her. But it wasn’t just her teammates who left her inspired. There was one person that moved her with his remarks on her near-perfect performance. 

Jordan Chiles speaks about having a celebrity guest judge on board

After captivating the audience with a rumba and receiving a near-perfect score of 39/40 last week, Jordan Chiles appeared in an interview with Laura Herbert from Access Hollywood. In it, she discussed how it felt to have Jon M. Chu, the director of last year’s Wicked, as a guest judge. For the uninitiated, Chiles and Sosa danced to the track ‘For Good’ from the upcoming sequel. But the connection goes deeper, as Chu was also in attendance at last year’s Olympics to witness Chiles win team gold.

“It honestly is a really, like, it’s a full circle moment. I honestly am so honored to have Jon in the seats. Like, judging us,” revealed Chiles. “And he knew what he was talking about, which was really cool because he’s in that world. He’s in that director, you know, era of his career.”

But receiving feedback from Chu was something that she valued the most. The 24-year-old continued, “And just to be able to get that feedback from him, knowing that he could see my eyes like I was, you know, on the Olympic floor, just means everything because this week, honestly, was a hard week, not just for me but also for Ezra.”

When Chu gave Chiles and Sosa a perfect 10 on their performance, Chiles screamed in joy while Sosa promptly fell to the ground. “I see that in you,” Chu told Chiles and Sosa, comparing their performance and energy to that of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s on the set of the movie. What made the moment even more significant was that until that point only Whitney Leavitt and partner Mark Ballas had scored a 10 in this season.

Jordan Chiles’ scores are a testament to her growth on the show. Remember her first week? She received only 10/20 in the episode and had fans rally against the judges. But her growth was consistent, making it to the eighth week of DWTS. With her teammates’ never-ending support, all that’s left to see is how far Chiles and Sosa will go.