Arnold and Lyons made their relationship Instagram official in October 2024

NEED TO KNOW

• Rylee Arnold said long-distance dating strengthens her emotional connection with boyfriend Walker Lyons despite its challenges
• The Dancing with the Stars pro and BYU football player stay connected through nightly FaceTime calls and mutual support
• Arnold revealed they met through an Uber driver’s suggestion and made their relationship Instagram official in October 2024

Rylee Arnold is opening up about a benefit of returning to long-distance dating with her boyfriend, Walker Lyons.

During a PEOPLE in 10 interview on Sept. 3, the Dancing with the Stars pro, 21, spoke candidly about how Lyons’ return to Brigham Young University alongside her return to the show will impact their relationship dynamic. 

“Honestly for us we just FaceTime every single night, we keep each other updated,” Arnold told PEOPLE. “It’s also a real good opportunity to see how you can handle long-distance. It’s a really hard situation to be put in in a relationship, but it also strengthens it so much.”

“It makes your emotional connection so much deeper and I’m honestly grateful for it,” she continued. “It’s a good opportunity for him to focus on his life and really excel and for me as well.”

Arnold emphasized that being away from the BYU Cougars tight end doesn’t change their feelings toward one another.

“We can still love each other, support each other aside and then when we see each other, it’s just that much better, so I think it’s awesome, but it is really hard at the same time,” she said. “You’ve just got to push through.”

Arnold —  who has been teamed up with social media personality Connor Wood for season 35 of DWTS — announced that she and Lyons would be long-distance dating again in an Instagram post on July 29.

“I’m so very grateful for him and for what these next few months look like for us both 🥹❤️‍🔥 @walkerlyons,” she wrote, captioning a clip of their date night in a mountain town.

The dancer made her relationship with Lyons official on Instagram in October 2024. She revealed how they met two months later in an episode of The Squeeze podcast.

Arnold said a “really nice lady,” who was driving her Uber, encouraged her to look up her nephew on Instagram because she thought they would “really get along.”

“I was like, okay, trusted this girl,” Arnold recalled. “I looked him up, and I was like, ‘Okay, he’s cute.’ So at that point, I was too scared to really do anything about it, and so I was just kind of like put it in my back pocket.”

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Arnold said her sisters later convinced her to reach out to him for a potential date. After following Lyons’ Instagram, she discovered that they had a “crazy amount of mutuals.”

“The fact we hadn’t met before is kind of crazy, but I think we met at the most perfect time in both of our lives,” she said.

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