Nyle DiMarco Defends His Statements About Val Chmerkovskiy Being His 'Competition' on DWTS

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd heat up the dance floor with one smokin’ quickstep on Dancing With The Stars on Monday night (April 25) from Los Angeles.

Ahead of his performance, the 26-year-old deaf model and activist made some comments about not seeing the other stars as his competition, and pointed out that he looked to pro Val Chmerkovskiy as his competition instead.

“Like playing a sport as a newbie, you would study Professionals as if they’re ‘to beat’… Only to push yourself. This is why I study Val,” Nyle explained on Twitter later on. “I can’t lie…#DWTS stars are great!! It is just how I strategize towards the Mirror Ball and I think it is not wrong.”

Val also came to his defense and thanked him for the compliment: “.@NyleDiMarco you embracing dance and being ambitious about it is HUGE compliment not just to me but to the dance world as a whole. #DWTS.”

Nyle and Peta are also pictured arriving to practice on Tuesday (April 26).

20+ pics inside…