Who Is Rylee Arnold’s Boyfriend? All About Walker Lyons and His Relationship With the DWTS Pro

Rylee Arnold has a new partner in her life: her boyfriend, Walker Lyons.

After weeks of teasing a new romance on social media, the Dancing with the Stars pro confirmed her romance with the University of Southern California tight end in October 2024 via an Instagram “hard launch.”

The relationship comes amid Arnold's second DWTS season, in which she is paired with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik. In a recent TikTok video, she debriefed a date she presumably went on with Lyons and revealed behind-the-scenes logistics.

“Luckily, our schedules kind of work out together," she said. "We’re both busy and free at the same time of the week, so it makes things kind of nice."

Arnold had previously sparked romance rumors with her former DWTS partner, Too Hot to Handle star Harry Jowsey, after spending time together outside the show and teasing their chemistry on TikTok. In response, she spoke fondly of him and he voiced that the speculation was “a little bit unfair" to her.

So who is Rylee Arnold’s boyfriend? Here’s everything to know about Walker Lyons and his relationship with the DWTS pro.

He's from California

Lyons is from Folsom, Calif., per the USC Trojans official football roster.

He played football at Folsom High School, where a broken leg cut his senior season short.

However, Lyons still made a significant impact on the field, and his high school football success led him to be named All-American Bowl's Man of the Year in January 2023. He was recognized for epitomizing a "high standard of excellence in community service and athletic distinction," per NBC Sports.

He's a USC football player

Lyons committed to playing as a tight end at USC after he completed his religious mission, hitting the football field in 2024.

During a press conference in September of his freshman year, he said that USC was “always one of [his] favorite schools.”

“I’m a West Coast kid from California, and obviously, it’s a really good academic school, and it’s a really good football school, so it kind of checked a lot of my boxes,” Lyons explained.

When asked about his experience playing in his first collegiate game, he shared that it “was super awesome.”

“I’m super blessed to be able to play in the game against a good opponent like Utah State,” he added. “Super cool being in the Coliseum, wearing the cardinal and gold and just getting after it a little bit.”

They met through mutual friends

In a “Get Ready With Me” TikTok in October 2024, Arnold explained what led to her first date with the athlete — a night that she later revealed included a “sweet treat” and a walk in Santa Monica.

“I have never met him before, but we have a lot of mutuals, which [are] interesting coincidences, and then we’ve just been texting a lot lately, and so I actually get to meet him tonight,” she said. “I’m feeling nervous but I’m also really excited because we’ve been having a good time talking and texting.”

“I feel like our personalities match really well already, so I’m interested to see how this will go,” she added.

While their first date was successful, she previously shared in a TikTok video that she found these kinds of introductions “really freaking scary.”

“It’s the pressure of a first date. You wanna make sure that they have a good time, but also like, are you having a good time?” she said in July 2024. “They’re just a little bit intimidating at the start, and then it just takes a second to get comfortable, but that’s okay, I think that’s just part of the process.”

They confirmed their relationship in October

In the weeks leading up to their official announcement, Arnold had been dropping subtle hints about her dates without revealing Lyons' name.

“He was so easy to talk to,” she shared while discussing more details about the first date. “We have so many similarities which was so fun to talk about. He is so sweet and humble and just all the amazing qualities. So I’m really curious to see how this all pans out.”

Most recently, Arnold went public with their relationship in an Instagram post on Oct. 27.

She shared photos from one of his football games with the caption, “Is this a hard launch?? 🤭❤️‍🔥,” which Lyons reposted to his Instagram Stories.

They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Arnold and Lyons share a similar religious background as they are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Prior to beginning his collegiate football career at USC, Lyons graduated early from high school so he could start his mission and return in time to train for the next football season.

In June 2024, he shared photos from his mission in Norway on Instagram. “I have learned, changed, and grown in ways unimaginable," he wrote.

Speaking to Church News the year before, in February 2023, he revealed who inspired him to embark on the journey. "My dad has talked about his mission as one of the most important, if not the most important, catalyst in his life. That’s ultimately why I decided to serve," Lyons explained.

Meanwhile, Arnold previously spoke about how she carries her belief in everything she does during an appearance on The Weekly Trash in December 2023.

“Throughout the whole entire season it was like, ‘Rylee, you’re so happy and you’re so fun. How are you one of the nicest people I have ever met? ... What is this light that I just see?’ ” she said. “It’s Christ. That’s just genuinely what it is and that’s something that is so important to me and something I just always want to portray.”

Arnold’s friends and family support her relationship

Following Arnold’s Instagram announcement of her new relationship, the dancer's friends and family commented their support.

“😍😍😍😍😍 I CANNOT GET OVER YOU TWO,” Lindsay Arnold, Arnold's eldest sister and DWTS alum, commented on the Instagram post.

The same night Arnold publicly revealed their relationship, she and Lyons went to Disneyland with Lindsay and her daughter, Sage.

Lindsay shared a video on her Instagram Stories of Sage on a teacup ride with the new couple, writing, “Sage loves this one but I cannot handle the spinning lol so shoutout to these two for taking her 😂 @ryleearnold1 @walkerlyons.”

Brynley Arnold, another one of Arnold's sisters, added to the comments: “SO HERE FOR THIS😍😍😍.”

After Arnold shared a TikTok video compiling glimpses of her supporting Lyons at his football game, her DWTS castmate and longtime friend Ezra Sosa posted a duet video in response.

In the video, Sosa playfully shed a tear with the caption, “cries in single.” In the comments, though, he expressed his happiness for her, writing, “all jokes aside im very happy for you. he makes you so happy and you deserve that 🥹.”

Arnold has previously spoken about struggling to date people the same age as her

Arnold opened up about being in the dating scene after her first year on DWTS during an episode of Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis in September 2024.

“I had a hard time being on dates with people the same age as me because I do feel like I have matured a lot, and I do feel like I have experienced a lot of life, so we are just in a completely different ballpark,” she said.

Later in the episode, she shared her previous experiences in the dating scene in Utah, where the dates are “all kind of the same.”

“For my Utah girlies listening in or any Utahns, please let me know if you have gone on a date where you went up the canyon, you went on a picnic, you maybe painted, you maybe ate, and then you went back home,” she said. “That’s the standard.”

Although she would be focused on DWTS while in Los Angeles, she shared that it “could be fun to meet someone," adding that “it is good to release and get your mind off the dancing.”