S22: Nyle DiMarco: America's Next Top Dancer?

[DollEyes]

Here's the thread for Nyle DiMarco, the winner of Cycle 22 of America's Next Top Model. He also happens to be hearing-impaired, which will be a challenge for his partner Peta Murgatroyd, but based on her comments on Good Morning, America, he seems to be adjusting better than expected. 

[ali59]

Oh my gosh, I hope he can dance!  That man is beautiful!

[leighdear]

Nyle was THE.BEST.THING about this last season of ANTM.  Sweet, caring, compassionate, and of course drop dead gorgeous. 

 

He is my #1 pick of all, no matter how he dances.  But he did model well enough to win the competition, so I think he'll be in it for a while.  

[Katydid]

I don't watch ANTM, so today is my first introduction to Nyle. Hello, hottie!

I really hope that the show doesn't treat him the way they have treated other contestants with different abilities. I just checked out Nyle's Wikipedia page and, like many others in the Deaf community, it says he doesn't consider being Deaf a disability. So it will be interesting to see if he takes the opportunity to educate people on this if they start with the typical antics and CAI's weekly cry fests. I hope they just focus on how he learns the dances because I think that will be interesting. I recently saw a show on Broadway that featured Deaf actors, and it was really interesting to read about how they used all these cues in the choreography and used various lights and other means of letting them know where they were in the music.

[legaleagle53]

Katydid, on 08 Mar 2016 - 2:16 PM, said:

I don't watch ANTM, so today is my first introduction to Nyle. Hello, hottie!

I really hope that the show doesn't treat him the way they have treated other contestants with different abilities. I just checked out Nyle's Wikipedia page and, like many others in the Deaf community, it says he doesn't consider being Deaf a disability. So it will be interesting to see if he takes the opportunity to educate people on this if they start with the typical antics and CAI's weekly cry fests. I hope they just focus on how he learns the dances because I think that will be interesting. I recently saw a show on Broadway that featured Deaf actors, and it was really interesting to read about how they used all these cues in the choreography and used various lights and other means of letting them know where they were in the music.

 

I'm amazed that people have forgotten about Marlee Matlin's run on this show.  She clearly demonstrated that being Deaf is anything but a disability when it comes to learning the dances on this show.  She could feel the rhythm, she used special hearing aids that gave her the ability to hear the music to some degree, she could speechread when necessary (and had her interpreter on hand at all times as well) and she had an excellent pro who taught her to rely on visual cues to get her through the various dances.  I think Nyle is going to do just fine, and I'll be surprised if he doesn't go at least as far as Marlee did, if not farther.

[leighdear]

Nyle wasn't given a lot of special treatment on ANTM, though he did have a cell phone that had a text-to-talk feature so he could "talk" to the other contestants.  They all treated him exactly like anybody else.  Interesting, but he has a fraternal twin brother.  Nice looking guy, but nowhere near the level of gorgeousness that my boyfriend Nyle has.  ;-)

 

Some of the modelling challenges included music, and he was quite able to use the beats & vibrations.  I think he's going to do amazing, and I will say he is the ONLY reason I will be watching this season.  I'm sure all the other contestants are very nice, but my eye is only on Nyle.  

[legaleagle53]

leighdear, on 08 Mar 2016 - 2:51 PM, said:

Nyle wasn't given a lot of special treatment on ANTM, though he did have a cell phone that had a text-to-talk feature so he could "talk" to the other contestants.  They all treated him exactly like anybody else.  Interesting, but he has a fraternal twin brother.  Nice looking guy, but nowhere near the level of gorgeousness that my boyfriend Nyle has.  ;-)

 

Some of the modelling challenges included music, and he was quite able to use the beats & vibrations.  I think he's going to do amazing, and I will say he is the ONLY reason I will be watching this season.  I'm sure all the other contestants are very nice, but my eye is only on Nyle.  

 

How big of a fanbase do you think he's going to have coming into this, leighdear?  That seems to be what hurts so many of these "lesser-known" celebs.  Gilles Marini was the exception who was able to grow his fanbase during his initial run, and hopefully Nyle will be able to follow suit if he needs to.

[leighdear]

How big of a fanbase do you think he's going to have coming into this, leighdear?  That seems to be what hurts so many of these "lesser-known" celebs.  Gilles Marini was the exception who was able to grow his fanbase during his initial run, and hopefully Nyle will be able to follow suit if he needs to.

Really hard to tell, LE.  Nyle being so young and gorgeous is going to help.  I just went to the ANTM thread, and all of the individual contestant threads are gone, though I know Nyle's had a LOT of info in it.  Lots of links to his social media accounts and modelling pics. 

 

We may just have to start over, but that's no sacrifice!  *LOL*

[WaffleFries]

Nyle is going to have an Alexa moment. Perfect night and then the fans drop him

[Uke]

I'm getting a William Levy vibe about Nyle.

Attractive, sincere, turned into just a hot bod by Cheryl + the judging. CAI hyperventilating.

I've a feeling we may see a repeat of that.

[exodia]

Nyle was THE.BEST.THING about this last season of ANTM.  Sweet, caring, compassionate, and of course drop dead gorgeous. 

 

He is my #1 pick of all, no matter how he dances.  But he did model well enough to win the competition, so I think he'll be in it for a while.  

 

Honestly, I think being deaf gave him a slight advantage in the end. Yes, he is extremely photogenic but he wasn't as strong of a model as some of the others were. With that being said, I'm still super happy he won ANTM and hope he makes it far with Peta :) 

[threebluestars]

I haven't watched DWTS in years, but I'll tune in for Nyle.

 

I realized the other day that he'll probably have a different interpreter than he did on ANTM, and that a Deaf person using an interpreter could have any number of voices. It really made me think about how I associate people with voices so much, and he could have a different one lol.

 

I think he'll do well - he seemed to have a lot of natural rhythm on ANTM.

[howmanywords]

At the risk of sounding completely shallow I had no idea who he was before the DWTS cast announcement and I havent even seen him dance yet but I think I might vote for him because of how insanely hot he is. Good lord! Can I just look at him every week? #shallow

[DollEyes]

Nyle will blog about DWTS for People magazine.

[Latsmile]

I'll be watching for the first time in many years because of Nyle.  The Deaf community is very excited and that along with the ANTM crowd and people who watched him on Switched at Birth, he might put together a decent fan base.  All he needs to do is last one or two shows because once the audience gets to know him, he could really win over a big following with his sweet and genuine personality.

 

As far as I know, Marlee Matlin and Nyle are quite different.  I believe Nyle is a proud third generation Deaf (or at least second).  And I saw a quick video where he said they tried to practice dancing with the volume all the way up and it just threw him off to feel the vibrations.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't voice at all and Marlee does.  She may have some level of hearing and he may not.  There's a wide range of ways to be Deaf, both in how one identifies, how much one is able to hear or not hear and how one chooses to communicate.

 

And I'm pretty sure that Nyle wouldn't want to be identified as "hearing impaired".  He's Deaf and I believe he identifies that way.  Some feel that hearing impaired is like calling a Person of Color "non-white", labeling someone in relation to the dominant culture.   And it's often seen as negative because, who wants to identify as "impaired"?  Obviously, some people are fine with that label but many who are born into Deaf families, have a strong Deaf community and a sense of Deaf Culture are not.  They often identify as being part of a linguistic minority as opposed to being disabled.

 

Most importantly, Nyle is not only a sweety but he's super-hot!!  I could just look at him all day and fingers crossed that he's got good rhythm so we can look forward to lots of shirtless Nyle in motion!! 

[howmanywords]

I'm even more intrigued by him after watching this.  How interesting that he actually danced better without being able to hear the vibration of the music.

[vavera4ka]

Hot damn! Nyle FTW!

[leighdear]

He didn't disappoint for a single second.  He's just as awesome as we ANTM fans knew he'd be!  I tried to explain him to my mom, but she didn't get it until she saw him in action.  Now she's a Nyle-lover too!  *LOL*

[mtlchick]

Suddenly I regret skipping the final season of ANTM.  Hot DAMN.  

 

I did download the ASL app that he is part of as I've always been fascinated by the language.  He may have motivated me to use it more often.  

[Celia Rubenstein]

Wow.

[boyznkatz]

He is definitely the hottest contestant since Gilles Marini and can dance too. Wow!

[laurakaye]

I swooned a little bit when he signed that he couldn't hear the music at all, he just followed Peta with his eyes.:)

 

And Peta taking it in stride, saying she'll just have to change up her way of teaching.

 

So this couple may have its challenges to outsiders, but neither one seems to see it that way.  I really hope they go far.

[DollEyes]

DAAAYYYMMM!! Nyle & Peta not only did better than expected, they killed it!  IMO,their dance was the best dance of the night. Nyle was much better than most of the hearing contestants, especially Geraldo. That Nyle is already this good without any dance experience/training and is completely deaf is incredible. If Nyle & Peta keep it up, I can not only see them in the Finals, they could win.

 

 

Is his brother deaf, too?

 

I think so.

 

 I took Bruno's referring to Nyle as "America's Next Top Dancer" as a shout-out.

Edited March 22, 2016 by DollEyes

[Wings]

Is his brother deaf, too?  

[boyznkatz]

Is his brother deaf, too?  

 

Yes, his entire family is deaf.

[Wings]

Yes, his entire family is deaf.

 

That is fascinating! 

[Latsmile]

The ginger in the audience is his fraternal twin brother.  A nice looking guy but...how does that feel, to have a twin like Nyle and know that when people see you they were hoping you'd be identical?  :-/  They're fourth generation Deaf which is a heritage to be proud of in the Deaf community.  His mom was on ANTM for an episode or two and I've seen videos of his family at home.  I hope they show that on this show, his mom seems like such a happy person and their big family is really close.  He seems to have grown up in a really positive, nurturing environment and I think it shows in his personality.  He seems to be secure enough to just go for it and try new and interesting things. 

Edited March 22, 2016 by Latsmile

[iMonrey]

My main concern for him will be when there are routines where he cannot keep his eyes on Peta through the whole dance because of the style. If he's learning to keep on the beat simply by watching Peta and mimicking her that might cause him problems down the road. Hopefully not, but when they get into group dances and those awful head to head challenges he might be in trouble.

[DollEyes]

The group, head-to-head and trio challenges could prove to be somewhat problematic, but I have faith in Nyle & Peta and I think that they'll find ways to work with/ around them.

 

  Nyle reminds me of J.R. Martinez, another contestant with physical challenges (including partial deafness) and without dance experience who won.

 

Here's Nyle & Peta's Cha-Cha, as a reminder of his potential:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LW0Cwwtom8

[leighdear]

There are quite a few resources out there for Peta, in regards to teaching Nyle.  Institutions like Gallaudet University have dance groups and I guarantee she was given plenty of information beforehand on methods best suited to teaching a deaf dancer.  I don't imagine she was told "Dance with Nyle or it's nobody".  In fact, I would hope all the female pros were approached before casting was finalized to determine who would either volunteer or just be willing to partner with him. But who knows how they did it. 

 

Lord knows if I was one of those pros, I would have knocked the other gals flat to get at him!  *LOL* 

Edited March 24, 2016 by leighdear

[RoxieBear73]

I watched Nyle on ANTM and thought he was a winner from the beginning. (So happy he was chosen as the winner) He seems so down to earth and I really like him. He and PETA killed it and I hope he goes far on Dancing with the Stars.

[anonymiss]

I remember in an interview after ANTM they asked if he was gay and he said he identifies as "sexually fluid" which I read as "gay but wanting to have fangirls." So I see he's very handsome but don't lust for him.

[dom16]

I remember in an interview after ANTM they asked if he was gay and he said he identifies as "sexually fluid" which I read as "gay but wanting to have fangirls." So I see he's very handsome but don't lust for him.

Or it means that he's, you know, sexually fluid. It it is a real thing, seeing as "gay" and "straight" are not the only two sexualities in the world that people identify with, and I also think Nyle has about 100 things that are more important in his life than lying about his sexuality to win "fangirls".

[anonymiss]

Or it means that he's, you know, sexually fluid. It it is a real thing, seeing as "gay" and "straight" are not the only two sexualities in the world that people identify with, and I also think Nyle has about 100 things that are more important in his life than lying about his sexuality to win "fangirls".

ITA it's a real thing. I believe in the Kinsey Scale. I don't think he necessarily wants to "win fangirls" but retain them. As a public figure it's a good answer to avoid people poking into your private life and judging you if you are gay and avoid potentially limiting your fan base.

Edited March 28, 2016 by anonymiss

[vavera4ka]

Judging by the style of dance Nyle got

Rumba

gotta get ready with cold water lol

[bjork]

Nyle's the bad beau in this music video:

 

[Catgyrl]

Oh my gosh - I LOVE THIS SONG!!! And I recognized Clark Moore from The Sing Off (he was with Dartmouth Aires).

[mimirose41209]

A couple things ...

1. Do you think Nyle gets a copy of the lyrics of the song so he has an idea of what the song is about whether it's part of their 'dance story' or not?

2. I think the judges should talk TO Nyle instead of ABOUT him when giving critique/comments. They position Ramon behind the judges' table so Nyle is looking at them while they are talking. To tell Peta ' You need to make sure Nyle does this or that' instead of saying 'Nyle, you need to extend your arms/make the movement continuous' is talking as if Nyle isn't even there. To me not talking TO him is ignoring him. (Am I wrong to think this? Can someone either in the Deaf/HOH community or versed in the culture help me out here.)

[DollEyes]

While Nyle & Peta's Rumba wasn't "perfect," the way I see it, that made Nyle look more vulnerable/more relatable. As for Nyle & Peta's little communication gap, I think they'll overcome it. In a way, this week's little speed bump reminded me of the S22 America's Next Top Model episode where one of the challenges was where the models were stranded in the woods at night, which was especially difficult for Nyle because in many cases he needs to see people in order to communicate with them and since it was dark, he couldn't see nor understand very well, which lead to a bad challenge photo, which wasn't his fault. IMO the blame belonged to Yu Tsai, the show's Creative Director, who could have come up with a much better way to communicate with Nyle if he wanted. That Nyle not only survived that week, he eventually won the competition is yet another testament to his perseverance.

Edited March 30, 2016 by DollEyes

[vavera4ka]

It's a minor speed bump. It's true he was too frantic, through no fault of his. Maybe Peta didn't really think too much about that part of the dance, concentrating on timing and choreography. Now it's been pointed out so they can find a way to address it. I'm sure they will, there are plenty of points of reference to the character of the dance that don't require being able to hear. They'll just need to find a way that works for him, and now they will be looking for it. Nyle is committed and Peta has shown herself more than capable adjusting her teaching methods.

I'm even more curious about the next week now.

he was still super hot in that dance - no let down there lol :)

[leighdear]

 

Nyle's the bad beau in this music video:

 

That video was awesome!  And he looked smokin' hot as usual.  Cool girl-power tune, with some 70's disco and some 80's sass.  I liked the song a lot, Alex has a great voice!

[still hoping]

I wasn't wowed by him on ANTM....

 

The "sexually fluid" admission was kind of "forced"  cause he only gave that interview when a deaf, gay guy outed him - yeah the guy was a jerk but come on

Nyle acted pretty straight on ANTM - cuddling all season with the young southern virgin - I wondered how she felt when she found out ? (the interview

was after the show filmed)

 

Now I can "appreciate" a handsome gay man but I think it is creepy if they act straight to gain fanbase - this is 2016, no need to play Rock Hudson games

I have to laugh at all the women swooning.

[leighdear]

I think Nyle acted like Nyle on ANTM and he's acting like himself on this show.  Not every gay person leads blatantly with their sexual orientation, some are more about just being who they are, as opposed to some caricature.  And I never saw anything deceptive looking in his relationship with Lacey.  She certainly never acted as if he was leading her on or pursuing her sexually.  I just saw them act like very close friends.  I think sexual fluidity is just the way lots of younger folks roll today, and don't see anything wrong with it. 

[heythere]

I've only occasionally watched this show in the past but my boyfriend and I started watching this season because we just had started taking taking some ballroom dancing lessons as few months ago. It's really interesting to watch Nyle because my boyfriend is also deaf and is saying he can relate a lot. We can get the steps but matching the steps to the beat is it's own challenge so we are working on developing our own cues as well. I hope we can get to the point where we are dancing as well as Nyle and Peta do!

[DollEyes]

leighdear: ITA, re your previous post. I watched ANTM Cycle 22 and if Lacey was offended by Nyle's actions, then she would have said so. At least Nyle wasn't a player like Mikey nor thirsty for attention like Bello and/or Devin.

 

  Loved the music video. The song is even hotter than Nyle, if that's possible.

 

 

The "sexually fluid" admission was kind of "forced"  cause he only gave that interview when a deaf gay guy outed him-yeah that guy was a jerk but come on

 

  If that's the case, then I don't blame Nyle, I blame the other guy, who probably outed Nyle out of spite after Nyle rejected him. Seems like sour grapes to me.

Edited April 2, 2016 by DollEyes

[heythere]

2. I think the judges should talk TO Nyle instead of ABOUT him when giving critique/comments. They position Ramon behind the judges' table so Nyle is looking at them while they are talking. To tell Peta ' You need to make sure Nyle does this or that' instead of saying 'Nyle, you need to extend your arms/make the movement continuous' is talking as if Nyle isn't even there. To me not talking TO him is ignoring him. (Am I wrong to think this? Can someone either in the Deaf/HOH community or versed in the culture help me out here.)

You are correct.

[Latsmile]

I think these are two different issues. I believe the judges often speak to the pro about what they should do with their celeb. They might critique and give advice to the celeb and then speak to the pro, advising them about how to get the most out of their celeb or how to change their choreography, etc. In these cases they're just giving advice to two different people, one after the other. This is what they did with Nyle and Peta, treating them as they do other pairs.

If they'd spoken directly to Ramon, saying "Tell Nyle such and such", that would be rude and inappropriate.

[Latsmile]

Meanwhile, divides that have existed in the Deaf world for over a century are flaring up around Nyle's success and visibility in the hearing world.

A historically oral organization, the AG Bell Association, wrote a negative response containing misinformation, to an article about Nyle's efforts to make visual language accessible to Deaf children.

http://www.agbell.org/in-the-news/response-nyle-dimarco/

Here's one of many responses from those who share Nyle's culture and his belief that's it's every Deaf child's right to have access to a natural, visual language.

http://www.deafeyeseeit.com/

I can't imagine how tough it is to be a role model at this level. Nyle obviously takes the responsibility that comes with his new found fame very seriously. But I think he has a good head on his shoulders and feel confident that he'll handle all this with passion, kindness and grace.

[DollEyes]

Nyle was on fire this week!  Unlike most of the other routines, his "Most Memorable Year" about traveling the world without an interpreter wasn't a sob story. Nyle & Peta's Tango was not only amazing, he got the first 9 of the season, which IMO was well-deserved. About Carrie Ann's criticizing Nyle for his so-called "lack of musicality," I agreed with Peta that Nyle would have more of a problem with it, since he's never heard music in the first place, hence Peta's putting Carrie Ann on blast and rightfully so, I believe.

 

  As for Nyle's being a role model for the deaf community, Nyle should just keep being himself because it's gotten him this far, haters be damned.

 

Edited to respond to vibeology: I respectfully disagree. For one thing, contestants resorting to using their kids as part of their dances, while it may not be sad, I find it cheesy and in Ginger's case, downright cringeworthy.  At least Doug's story about his parents dying on the same day and Jodie's story about her struggles with addiction didn't make me roll my eyes to the point of blindness.  I found Nyle & Peta's tango very powerful and it had plenty of "emotional spark."  Carrie Ann's criticism of Nyle, while well-meaning, was badly worded and Peta was right to call her out, the way I see it.

Edited April 5, 2016 by DollEyes

[vibeology]

Nyle was on fire this week!  Unlike most of the other routines, his "Most Memorable Year" about traveling the world without an interpreter wasn't a sob story. Nyle & Peta's Tango was not only amazing, he got the first 9 of the season, which IMO was well-deserved. About Carrie Ann's criticizing Nyle for his so-called "lack of musicality," I agreed with Peta that Nyle would have more of a problem with it, since he's never heard music in the first place, hence Peta's putting Carrie Ann on blast and rightfully so, I believe.

 

  As for Nyle's being a role model for the deaf community, Nyle should just keep being himself because it's gotten him this far, haters be damned.

 

Barely anyone had a sob story tonight. This was probably the most positive MMY to date. Von, Antonio, Marla, Ginger, Paige, Wanyá and Kim all had very positive stories and even Jodie's very personal story was more a celebration of overcoming her substance issues than wallowing in them. Doug's was the only truly sad story of the whole lot.

 

I disagree with the musicality thing. Is it going to be harder for Nyle? Absolutely but the truth is movement that isn't connected to the music isn't as powerful. It just lacks that emotional spark. Peta and Nyle need to find ways to make sure that they get that right. No reason to blast CAI for providing a useful criticism. (She so rarely does so I don't want to see people discouraging her.) Nyle and Peta need to talk about how the song makes people feel and what it means and bring that into their movement. It's clearly a challenge but no reason someone smart and focused like Nyle can't get better at it.