Though she’s only 20 years old, Simone Biles is quick on her feet (literally). This came in handy when her facial expressions were criticized during Monday night's Dancing With the Stars.
The judges were quick to critique the Olympic gold medalist's smile during her routine, and Simone didn’t find it very amusing.
Julianne Hough commented, "I don't know if the smile is authentic. I want to see rawness come out."
"You let out your signature smile after you did your trick, which was great… [but] I felt you uncertain a little bit," Carrie Ann Inaba told Simone. "Be careful. Sometimes you dance like a metronome, you're so on the beat. I want to see if you can play a little bit, holding and extending."
When host Tom Bergeron made a comment about Simone's expressionless face while listening to the judges’ comments, Biles didn’t skip a beat with her response.
"I was waiting for you to smile at some of the compliments but you didn't," he said.
Biles paused, and then said, “Smiling doesn’t win you gold medals.” ~BURN~
Though the gymnast sounded pretty pissed when she made the comment, she explained herself later. "I've spent my whole entire life in the gym training for something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl… I think they think because I’m 20 I should’ve gone through those life experiences, but I missed out on all of that and that’s why I'm taking a year off and am trying to find it," Biles said.
That’s fair. But hey, a 36 out of 40 for both routines isn’t such a bad score. We support you, Simone. Don’t let the criticism get you down.