Dancing with the Stars

Ryan Lochte was a man of few words after he learned he's being benched for 10 months.

Lochte was on a plane Wednesday afternoon when TMZ Sports broke the story about the USOC's decision to suspend him. When he landed at LAX he was stoic, declining to say if he felt the punishment was too harsh, especially given the 6 months Michael Phelps got for 2 DUIs.

He had more to say about "Dancing With the Stars" ... he has a bad case of the nerves, and says why.

Ryan Lochte's a "loving" and "caring" person ... people just don't realize it, YET.

TMZ Sports talked to Lochte at LAX Tuesday ... when we asked if his upcoming appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" would help repair his image.

(In case ya missed it ... dude's got a little bit of a PR problem.)

Lochte's answer is really interesting. It's clear he believes he's totally misunderstood.

We also asked Ryan about his skills on the dance floor ... and whether his work in the pool gives him an edge in the ballroom.

MEGATRON IS BACK ... kinda ... 'cause Calvin Johnson is competing again, wearing his tights again, but this time as a new contestant on "Dancing With the Stars."

ABC just announced the new cast to the world ... making it official that Johnson will be following in the fancy footsteps of gridiron greats like Hines Ward, Emmitt Smith, and Jerry Rice.

Johnson shocked the football world when he retired earlier this year at 30 ... but never fear Detroit fans, you can watch him once again going head to head against Vanilla Ice & Ryan Lochte.

Erin Andrews is on thin ice with Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy after spilling the beans on the couple's baby news -- their SECRET baby news.

Erin's loose lips struck during Monday's rehearsals for the "Dancing with the Stars" finale. Our production sources say Erin was mic'd up when she walked up to Peta and Maksim and congratulated them ... and everyone heard it.

We're told the couple was pissed since they hadn't told some of their closest friends and family yet -- and they were still planning a big announcement.

Erin apologized, but we're told she kept trying to blow it off as a joke ... which only made it worse.

Ironically, the next night, Peta did some blabbing of her own. After she and dancing partner Nyle DiMarco won the 'DWTS' title, she posted on Facebook ... before it aired on the west coast. Some fans immediately ripped her on social media.

At least Erin can make up for her mistake with an expensive baby gift.

Donald Trump's candidacy will have an impact on the "Dancing With the Stars" finale -- the show's doubling its police detail because his daughter will be in the audience.

Sources close to production tell us Tiffany Trump will be there to support her mom, Marla Maples. The Donald's ex-wife was a contestant this season. We're told there will be 17 officers patrolling in and around the studio tonight, instead of the usual 9.

There's no specific threat, our sources say it's just precautionary.

There could be a serious battle brewing in the NY Giants locker room ... a dance battle ... 'cause Rashad Jennings says he'd take out Odell Beckham Jr. if they both end up on 'DTWS.'

Rashad previously told us his dream was to do 'DWTS' ... but lately Odell's name is connected to the show ... after he crashed Von Miller's rehearsal and drew rave reviews from Miller's dance partner.

So, when we saw Rashad out in NYC we asked ... if both men got their shot on the same season of 'Dancing' who would come away as the MVP of the mambo?

Check the clip -- Rashad ain't backing down from OBJ ... basically saying the same thing Gabrielle Union told Kirsten Dunst so many years ago.

Could Odell Beckham take over for Von Miller on "Dancing with the Stars" next year?

Von's partner sure hopes so ... with Lindsay Arnold saying the guy would CRUSH it on the show.

Everyone knows Odell is a dance-aholic ... the guy breaks out moves in clubs, on the street, at Drake's house ... everywhere.

In fact, he even crashed Lindsay and Von's rehearsal earlier this season -- and impressed her so much, she wants to partner up with the guy!!

Check out the clip ... seems like a no-brainer for both Odell and the show.

Erin Andrews attempted to fly under the radar with an alias -- but a photog broke the code.

The "Dancing with the Stars" and FOX Sports host was spotted at LAX with her limo driver, who clearly failed Covert Operations 101 -- since her fake name, "Emmy Bean," was in clear sight after they met.

Cheryl Burke regrets telling the world Ian Ziering annoyed her so much she wanted to slit her wrists.

Burke's backtracking on comments she made on the "Allegedly" podcast Saturday where she confessed being with her former "Dancing with the Stars" partner 24/7 made her want to kill herself.

Burke tweeted her regret about using a phrase "that seemingly makes light of suicide" and apologized for making a mockery of those who've struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Cheryl Burke's got a deep-seated hatred for her former "Dancing With the Stars" partner Ian Ziering.

Burke revealed being around Ziering 24/7 drove her so nuts it made her "want to slit [her] wrists." The grizzly confession went down on Matt Weiss and Theo Von's "Allegedly" podcast.

Burke and Ziering were eliminated in the semi-finals back in season 4 -- but according to Burke, she practically begged producers to give her the axe way before then.

Von Miller had a special guest at his "Dancing with the Stars" rehearsals ... Odell Beckham Jr. -- who ended up teaching Von's pro dance partner a thing or two about hip-hop.

After the two NFL stars had their own 2-man dance party ... Von's partner Lindsay Arnold joined the turn up -- and Odell led the crew in a mini-dance tutorial.

Erin Andrews got her guard up at LAX when a taxi driver started recording video of her.

It all went down Friday afternoon after Erin landed in L.A. -- and you'll see in this clip ... she was fine talking to our camera guy and with a nearby still photographer.

But the "Dancing with the Stars" and FOX Sports host is clearly still on edge about video cameras she's not expecting -- after her whole hotel room peephole ordeal.

"Dancing With The Stars" pro Keo Motsepe is probably still recovering from getting his balls nearly crushed during rehearsals Thursday ... and it was all caught on tape!

Motsepe was in the middle of turning his partner Jodie Sweetin when her microphone pack got loose, started swinging and yanked the mic cord right where it hurts most.

Needless to say, Motsepe needed a timeout, but Jodie found a way to make things worse!

"Dancing with the Stars" contestant Nyle DiMarco is keeping time just fine on the dance floor -- even though he's deaf -- with a hand from his partner.

We got this video of 'DWTS' pro Peta Murgatroyd and the 'Top Model' champ rehearsing, and she shows off their secret to keeping the beat. It's really impressive on Nyle's part!

The duo tied for the top score on this week's premiere, and based on this ... looks like they're gonna nail it again next week.

Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips says the NFL should absolutely panicked about the idea of Peyton Manning coaching ... saying if the ex-QB ever put on a headset he could take over the league.

We got Phillips leaving The Griddle in L.A. where he attempted to finish a pancake (seriously, you seen those things?) and asked and if he thought Peyton would make for a great head coach someday.

The short answer is yes ... with Wade telling our camera guy if Peyton ever decided to call signals from the sidelines instead of under center ... the entire league would be in serious trouble.

Bonus awesomeness? Wade gives us his expert opinion on Von Miller's chances of winning "Dancing with the Stars" and if you don't think Wade's a dancing expert ... check out the video below.

Doug Flutie's yoked.

Here's the 53-year-old ex-NFL star leaving "Dancing with the Stars" Wednesday ... puttin' on a gun show in the parking lot.