Amber Glenn’s journey on Dancing with the Stars has not been without emotional moments. During rehearsals for Yacht Rock Night, the Olympic figure skater accidentally elbowed her professional partner, Pasha Pashkov, in the face, leaving him with a bloody nose. The incident left Glenn in tears as she struggled with the guilt of hurting someone she had been working so closely with. Despite the distressing moment, the experience did not appear to make the competition itself more intimidating for her than figure skating. In fact, Glenn recently explained why performing on DWTS feels less nerve-wracking than stepping onto Olympic ice.

Speaking on Megan Rapinoe’s Why Are You Like This? podcast on October 14, Glenn was asked which experience made her more nervous: performing on Dancing with the Stars or competing at the Olympics. She did not hesitate to answer. “Olympic ice, Olympic ice, Olympic ice,” she said, explaining that figure skating can feel isolating because she is completely alone on the ice, with all eyes fixed on her.

“There’s no one near you, and you’re completely alone, and you can just feel all the eyes looking down at you,” Glenn explained. Despite having spent many years in the sport, she admitted that the pressure remains intimidating. For her, Olympic competition represents the culmination of years of training, with everything leading up to a single performance. That knowledge makes stepping onto the ice a different experience from performing on a television dance show.

By comparison, Glenn described the Dancing with the Stars setting as much smaller, likening it to a conference room. While she acknowledged the effort that goes into learning each routine, she explained that the preparation process gives her a different perspective on performing. “I’ve been putting my everything into it,” Glenn said of her work on the show. She also acknowledged that the process comes with “so many moments of triumph and failure,” adding that a great deal goes into preparing each routine.

She then summed up the contrast by saying, “But it’s like 21 years a week.”  Her comment captured the contrast between spending years training for figure skating and having just one week to prepare for a new dance. That difference is particularly interesting given how Glenn has been doing on the show.

Paired with professional dancer Pasha Pashkov for Season 35, which began in September 2026, she has been learning to adapt her skating background to ballroom dancing. Her athleticism and performance experience have helped, but the competition has still required her to learn new steps, work with a partner and adjust to different dance styles.

Glenn began the season with a cha-cha to Santana’s “Smooth,” earning 18 out of 30 points from the judges. She followed that with a tango that earned 21 out of 30 before scoring 24 out of 30 for her foxtrot to Toto’s “Hold the Line” during Yacht Rock Night, receiving three 8s. Her rumba to Mariah Carey’s “Hero” earned 23 out of 30, before she reached a new high with her samba to “Mi Gente.” Glenn scored 34 out of 40 for the performance, receiving 9s from Derek Hough and guest judge Joe Buck, along with two 8s. Her scores showed that she was making progress over time.

Still Glenn’s comparison was not about saying that one stage requires more work than the other. Instead, she explained how the pressure feels different. On DWTS, she has days to practise. On Olympic ice, years of preparation lead to one performance. That pressure is easier to understand when looking at Glenn’s journey to the Olympics.

Amber Glenn’s heartbreaking first Olympic experience

Making the Olympic team was a dream Glenn once struggled to imagine for herself. Her first chance to compete at the Games came in 2022, but her Olympic hopes ended when she tested positive for COVID-19 after finishing 14th in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and had to withdraw. Four years later, she finally made her Olympic debut at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, making the opportunity all the more meaningful.

However, her first Olympics did not unfold as she had hoped in the individual event. On February 17, Glenn took to the ice for the women’s short program and initially looked strong, landing her triple Axel and jump combination during a routine set to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” But her final triple loop went wrong. She completed a double jump instead, receiving no points for the required element. Her score of 67.39 left her in 13th place, dealing a painful blow to her hopes of winning an individual medal.

The moment quickly became heartbreaking. Glenn broke down in tears on the ice before finding comfort in the arms of her coach, Damon Allen. Yet, the disappointment went beyond her position on the leaderboard. Glenn later explained that she was upset because she had lost the happiness and enjoyment she had hoped to feel while living out a dream that had taken years to reach. After everything she had gone through to make the Olympic team, she wanted to enjoy the moment rather than feel crushed by the pressure.

Despite the setback, Glenn returned for the free skate and finished fifth overall in the women’s singles event. She had also helped Team USA win gold in the figure skating team event. Even so, the experience showed just how much the Games meant to her and why stepping onto Olympic ice can feel so intimidating.