Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke admits preparing Ryan Lochte for their next dance was all about getting him in the right mental state following last week's protest.

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The Olympic swimmer "has been deeply affected by what happened and I've been working to help him move on and focus on the task at hand," Burke wrote in her People blog.

During last Monday night's performance show, protesters ran onstage after Lochte danced for the first time this season with Burke. Two men had jumped in front of the DWTS judges and host Tom Bergeron wearing white anti-Lochte T-shirts and yelling "liar" at Lochte during the broadcast.

Protesters Sam Sotoodeh and Barzeen Soroudi told TMZ they wanted to shame Lochte for the summer scandal in Rio in which he had fabricated a story about being robbed at gunpoint when he actually helped to vandalize a gas station's bathroom. The two protesters were fined and charged with trespassing.

But the show must go on! Burke shook off her fear and has been working to rebuild Lochte's confidence heading into the September 19 show.

Making things more difficult for the pair this week, however, was the fact Burke needed to juggle Dancing with the Stars with prior commitments to promote her active wear line on QVC. Lochte therefore had to fly with Burke to Philadelphia.

"Traveling during a rehearsal week can be hard, but I think it was a blessing because it got Ryan out of Los Angeles. It gave him time to just be by himself while I worked and then we would dive right into rehearsal," Burke explained.

It was also a big transition for the dancing couple to move from the slow foxtrot to a challenging quickstep routine.

"Ryan has been working his butt off to nail this dance," Burke wrote in her blog.

But Lochte apparently got injured when one of the two protesters was tackled by Dancing with the Stars security last week onstage.

"I can see in his face sometimes that he definitely injured his ankle... But he's an Olympian and would never tell me he's in pain. He never complains about anything. He's always ready to work and give it his all and try harder than the time before," Burke said.

For Monday night's theme of "TV Week" week, Burke and Lochte will be taking the stage in honor of The Muppets Show.

"We won't be dressed up like Muppets or anything but we're going to pay homage in a really fun way that I think will show off a new side of Ryan that people really haven't seen before. I think he's been having fun hamming it up," Burke explained.

The 32-year-old pro dancer, who returned to Dancing with the Stars after three seasons off, emphasized the word "fun."

"Ryan got to see very quickly how much the cast and crew of DWTS is a family and how supportive they can be when someone is having a hard time, but now I want him to regain his confidence that the audience is supporting him as well," Burke said, referencing last week's protest again.

"Regardless of how our dance goes, I want Ryan to go out there this week and have fun and feel the love."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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