Protesters Rush Stage After Ryan Lochte's Performance on 'Dancing With the Stars

LOS ANGELES (TheBlaze/AP) — Embattled U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte says he feels "a little hurt" after being involved in an altercation on "Dancing with the Stars" that prompted producers to cut to commercials.

The beleaguered athlete was rushed by an unknown pair of men wearing anti-Lochte T-shirts while receiving his scores from judge Carrie Ann Inaba on Monday night's live installment of the celebrity ballroom dance competition.

Here’s video of whatever just happened to Ryan Lochte on #DWTS pic.twitter.com/x8GAfa7aeT

— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) September 13, 2016

"Hey, back off," Inaba said as the altercation was occurring off screen.

When the show returned, "Dancing with the Stars" host Tom Bergeron explained they were interrupted by "a little incident" and thanked the ABC series' security team "for staying in shape."

The swimmer told Bergeron that "so many feelings are going through my head right now." Lochte added that he was "a little hurt, but I came out here. I wanted to do something I'm completely not comfortable with, and I did."

An ABC News correspondent later posted images of the two protesters on Twitter. Both men were handcuffed.

Cuffed for rushing the stage at #DWTS during @ryanlochte's dance pic.twitter.com/rjueIKuLsZ

— Jason Nathanson (@ABCNewsJason) September 13, 2016

ABC did not immediately return messages seeking comment about the incident, but Inaba expressed gratitude for her security detail in an Instagram post.

"Only positive energy here tonight and always. Thank you," the judge wrote.

We had a bit of a scary moment during tonight's live taping of @dancingabc, but thanks to our security team and incredible staff at #DWTS, no one got hurt. Only positive energy here tonight and always. Thank you. #dancingwiththestars #security #grateful #dwtspremiere #dwts23 #dwtspremiere #dwtspremiere

A photo posted by Carrie Ann Inaba (@carrieanninaba) on Sep 12, 2016 at 7:35pm PDT

During the episode, the Olympic medalist performed a foxtrot routine with professional partner Cheryl Burke to "Call Me Irresponsible." They received a combined score from the judges of 24 out of 40.

Lochte and teammates were involved in an early-morning drunken encounter during the Olympics last month at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They later claimed they were threatened and robbed. United States team officials banned Lochte for 10 months, requiring him to forfeit $100,000 in bonuses and miss the 2017 world championships.

Earlier in the show, Lochte said the Brazil incident is his "biggest regret" in life.

"I want to prove to the world that I've changed," the swimmer said. "This is my second chance, and I don't want to blow it."

—

Follow the author of this story on Twitter:

Follow @tregp