Lindsay Arnold Cusick is a professional dancer on ABC’s reality competition “Dancing With the Stars”. She has been on the show for 11 seasons and last year she and her partner, Jordan Fisher won first place. Lindsay grew up in Provo, Utah and started dancing at 4 years old. She is married to Scott Cusick. The couple live in Los Angeles with their Labradoodle, Moose.
Here are 5 things you didn’t know about Lindsay Arnold.
She’s from Utah
Lindsay Arnold was born and raised in Provo, Utah on January 11, 1994. She is the oldest of four daughters of Josh and Mindy Arnold. Her sisters are Jensen, Brynley and Rylee. Lindsay began dancing at 4 years old. She married her high school sweetheart, Samuel Cusick, in a private ceremony at Salt Lake temple in Salt Lake City in 2015. She is close with her “Dancing With the Stars” co-stars and several attended the wedding. Brittany Cherry, Jenna Johnson and Emma Slater were her bridesmaids and Whitney Carson was Lindsay’s maid of honor.
Dancing
Lindsay began dancing as a hobby at the age of 4. She took ballet and jazz, and by the age of 8, was competing. Her sisters followed in her footsteps, so their mom opened a dance studio, Vibe, in Lindon, Utah. Lindsay trained under Rick Robinson and “Dancing With the Stars'” Mark Ballas’ mother, Shirley Ballas. In addition to ballet and jazz, Lindsay developed skills in hip-hop, contemporary, Latin and ballroom dance. Competing in local and national competitions, Lindsay won several awards. Mark Ballas visited Vibe to help his mom coordinate a routine for Lindsay’s team when she was in Junior High School. He invited the team to compete on Paula Abdul’s “Let’s Dance”.
She was a contestant on “So You Think You Can Dance”
At 18, Lindsay auditioned for the ninth season of Fox network’s talent show “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2012. Partnered with martial arts/fusion dancer, Cole Horibe, Lindsay made it to the top 20. She was later partnered with Jakob Karr and Alex Wong and advanced to the top 8. Although she was eventually eliminated from the dance competition, Lindsay was praised by the judges for her talent and her versatility. Lindsay earned an academic scholarship to Utah Valley University but first toured with the show. Dancing runs in the family. Lindsay’s younger sister Jensen would later compete on the show.
Dancing With the Stars
When Lindsay Arnold joined the cast of ABC reality dancing competition, “Dancing With the Stars” in 2013, she was the second youngest professional dancer to join the show. Julianne Hough was 18 years old when she joined the show, just a few months shy of Arnold. Lindsay proved her talent dancing with celebrities including professional boxer, Victor Ortiz, Boyz II Men singer Wanya Morris, former NFL pro Calvin Johnson, former MLB catcher David Ross, and singer/actor Jordan Fisher. During the past four seasons, Lindsay Arnold and her partners placed fourth, third, second and first consecutively.
Kareem Abdul Jabar
This season’s special four week all athlete edition of “Dancing With the Stars” premiered April 30 and appears to be Lindsay’s biggest challenge yet. Her partner is former pro basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabar. The challenge doesn’t lie in talent. At 71 years old, Jabar still has great foot movements on and off the basketball court. The challenge is in the height difference between the two. Kareem Abdul Jabar is 7’2″ while Lindsay Arnold is 5’6″. The two have searched for innovative ways to use their height difference to their advantage in the dancing competitions. Mostly, they choose moves that won’t empathize the difference in the stars’ height. This seems to be working well so far. Lindsay and Kareem’s Cha Cha performance impressed the judges. They scored a 17. The premier had a double elimination and team Jabar-Arnold are still in the game.
Follow Us
