Witney Carson Admits She Feels ‘Protective’ Over ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Partner Robert Irwin
Dancing With the Stars pro Witney Carson and partner Robert Irwin are becoming as close as siblings as they take on the ballroom together.
“We are just having the best time. I feel like we've become like this brother and sister duo,” Irwin, 21, exclusively told
Carson, 31, agreed with Irwin’s sentiment. “100 percent,” she said. “I feel very protective over him, especially when the DMs get a little crazy. I get a little protective.”
The pro dancer has been playing matchmaker for Irwin since the season began, previously joking that her DMs are flooded with applicants hoping to score a date with the wildlife conservationist.
“He is an absolute dream partner and very humble,” she gushed to Us on Tuesday. “I gotta knock him down a little bit sometimes, keep you grounded, critique you a little bit more. But no, he is just as great as you guys see on TV.”
Carson and Irwin showed off their chemistry while performing a cha-cha to Zootopia's “Try Everything” on Disney Night. (Irwin revealed during the show that he is voicing a new character in the sequel to the hit animated film.)
Disney/Eric McCandles
The pair went on to earn a combined score of 22 out of 30 from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, who encouraged Irwin to show off more of his physique.
“Well, I think that might have been left over from last week, because there was, let's just say we took it easy on the costume department,” Irwin told Us, referring to his shirtless moment from TikTok Night on September 30.
“We wanted to change the vibe a little bit and to really have the same sort of fun and fluidity, but in a completely different dance,” he continued. “The cha-cha was such a challenge, but so much fun and great to represent a movie like Zootopia. Shakira starts playing and the hips just start going. There’s no two ways about it.”
Carson and Irwin ultimately were saved from elimination, earning a chance to dance during the show’s Dedication Night on October 14. (Hilaria Baldwin and pro Gleb Savchenko were voted out of the competition on Tuesday.)
“We’re going to really be doing a special dedication to my family and to my mom, [Terri Irwin],” Robert told Extra on Tuesday. “I’m really excited for it.”
Ahead of the competition, Robert noted that his late dad,
“After doing this experience, I reckon I think he’d be stoked,” Robert exclusively told Us in September. “I reckon he would love it in here. This is like the ultimate adrenaline rush, and that’s what he loved more than anything else.”
Porsha Williams Reveals She’s Dating a Man and a Woman: "He Is Nice and She Is Nice"
Porsha Williams is changing her approach to romance.
Months after finalizing her divorce from Simon Guobadia, The Real Housewives of Atlanta mom revealed she was dating not one but two new people — a man and a woman. Porsha shared the news during her appearance at CultureCon in Brooklyn, explaining how the mystery guy and gal were different from her previous partners.
Porsha Williams dishes on the new boyfriend & girlfriend in her life
“So the people I am talking to now — it’s just two — I’ve narrowed it down to two. And he is nice, and she is nice,” she said during an October 5 panel discussion. “But I really just wanted to make sure these were normal people. And what I talked about with my therapist the other day was, I’m having a hard time opening up because they’re not narcissists. And guess what narcissists do? They love bomb you. They do everything. They’re perfect. They mirror you.”
Porsha said the man and woman weren’t trying to lock down a relationship through insincere gestures or fawning rhetoric. In fact, they were confident enough to “challenge” and “question” her.
“They’re not letting me walk over them,” she continued. "They aren't just doing whatever they need to do to get into the relationship. And so I’m not feeling safe enough to open up yet.”
Porsha said the unfamiliar experience led to a revelation.
“I realized if you want something different, you have to also be different,” she explained. “I have to soften up a bit. I have to not expect a whole lot of elaborate things … I have to expect someone to call me out from time to time.”
Porsha Williams' Relationship History from Kordell Stewart to Simon Guobadia
Porsha’s romantic life has undergone many changes over the past 13 years. When she joined RHOA in Season 5, the Georgia native was married to former NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart. The two divorced in 2013, roughly five years before Porsha confirmed her relationship with Dennis McKinley.
Porsha and Dennis got engaged in 2018 but called it quits after welcoming their first child, daughter Pilar Jhena “PJ” McKinley. Although they got re-engaged at the end of 2019, the parents failed to repair their relationship in light of Dennis’ infidelity.
Fast-forward to the spring of 2021, when Porsha revealed she was engaged to Nigerian-born businessman Simon. The pair tied the knot in 2022 with wedding ceremonies in Nigeria and Atlanta. About 15 months into the marriage, Porsha filed for divorce. She addressed her decision in RHOA Season 16, attributing the split to “a slow progression of issues” involving finances.
“I felt the need to file when I did to protect assets,” she said in the Season 16 premiere.
Porsha Williams questions whether she could date a woman
