Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik has been killing it on Dancing With the Stars as of late — earning his first ten, simultaneously coasting his way to the top six alongside Danny Amendola and Witney Carson, Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach, Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten, and Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong — but believe it or not, his girlfriend has actually been the star of the show.
After all, her outfits are to die for!
Stephen and his girlfriend, Tess McCracken, have been dating for over eight years, meeting at Penn State University, where they were a part of the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams (respectively). Showing her support at the 2024 Olympic Games, Tess has been showing her support throughout Stephen’s Dancing With the Stars journey as well, showing up to each and every taping in an ensemble that matches what he and his professional dance partner, Rylee Arnold, are wearing that evening.
How do these perfectly planned outfits come to be, though? For those who are just as curious as we are, Tess spilled the tea in a TikTok video on Oct. 13. Keep scrolling for the details.
Tess addresses her and Stephen’s matching outfits
Believe it or not, Tess does not purposely match Stephen and Rylee every episode, but she certainly tries her best to show her team spirit.
According to the WAG herself, her outfit “depends on the show,” as well as her level of preparedness, matching with the pair better some weeks than others.
She then delved into the details of each episode of Dancing With the Stars so far, beginning with the premiere on Sept. 17.
DWTS premiere
According to Tess, she did not purposely match Stephen and Rylee during the Dancing With the Stars premiere, because she “didn’t want to go too bold for the first week.”
“If you go back and look, I’m just wearing a black kind of satin slip dress,” she reminisced, which is a stark contrast from Stephen’s white-and-navy striped shirt he wore to kick off his Dancing With the Stars journey.
Tess spilled, “I kind of wanted to go into the ballroom and see what the vibes were for the dress code and how out there people were going with it. I felt like it was a nice, safe choice, and it was. It fit in quite well.”
“Oscars Night”
After learning what attendees in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom tend to wear, Tess amped things up for “Oscars Night” the following week, perfectly matching Stephen and his Superman attire this time around.
“I didn’t know I was going to match them going in,” Tess admitted. “I knew that it was ‘Oscars Night,’ and I knew that he was doing a Superman song, so that’s fairly easy. I went on Amazon and I found a red cape dress, so that I could be a red Superman and have the cape, but I didn’t know at the time that I ordered it (or even before the show) that they were also going to be wearing bright red.”
After “Oscars Night,” Tess shared some photos and videos that ended up going viral, with viewers praising the WAG for matching her boyfriend so beautifully:
“Love a good show of team spirit! Haha and in a dress like this, why wouldn’t you? Stunning!”
“That dress is PERFECT queen.”
“The team spirit I LOVE IT!!”
Due to the positivity she received, this resulted in some more intentional matching for the future, trying her best each and every episode to perfectly pair with the Dancing With the Stars duo.
“Soul Train Night”
Just like with “Oscars Night,” Tess did not know exactly what Stephen and Rylee would be wearing for “Soul Train Night” before the episode began, but the Olympic gymnast gave her some spoilers beforehand.
Nevertheless, it looks like Tess took her best guess, and fortunately, it paid off…
“All I knew about ‘Soul Train’ is when you look it up, it’s that orangish-yellow ‘Soul Train’ logo,” the Texas native explained, revealing that she had ordered a dress that matched this color scheme. “I’d already decided on my dress before [Stephen] went into his fitting, and he comes out of his fitting, gets back in the car, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, so we’re in a yellow suit.'”
Fearful that Stephen would be in a Curious George-coded outfit, Tess was pleased to see that Stephen’s suit was much more of a gold hue when the taping rolled around, perfectly matching her Fearless-esque gold fringe dress that she had picked out previously — how perfect is that?
“Hair Metal Night”
“Hair Metal Night” is when the 26-year-old kicked things up another notch, hiring a designer, Evan Hirsch, to custom-design a dress for her that was perfect for the occasion.
According to Tess, he had actually reached out to her after seeing her “Oscars Night” look, eager to join her on this oh-so exciting endeavor throughout Dancing With the Stars season 33:
“Evan Hirsch had reached out to me about my Superman dress, and he loved it and loved that I was matching, and he asked if I wanted a custom-designed dress for ‘Hair Metal Night.’ He was like, ‘It would be an honor to create this dress for you,’ and I was like, ‘It would be an honor to have a dress made for me, Let’s do this!'”
Because she was having a dress custom-made, Tess could not wait and see what Stephen and Rylee would wear, taking her best guess (once again)…
“The black-and-red flame dress arrived a full week ahead of any of [Stephen’s] fittings, so the thing to really emphasize is that I am just ordering, shopping, designing, based on the theme, and then I know what song they’re doing ahead of time,” she explained.
The Penn State University alum continued, “I didn’t find out what he was wearing for ‘Hair Metal Night’ until the morning of the show, so literally as he’s leaving for ‘Hair Metal Night,’ I was like, ‘Wait, what are you wearing tonight?’ He was like, ‘I’m wearing a black leather suit with red roses.'”
With her custom-made dress matching his ensemble perfectly, this was music to her ears!
Given the fact that she shared this TikTok video before “Dedication Night,” “Disney Night,” and “Halloween Nightmares Night,” Tess did not address how each of those outfits came to be, however, based on some photos shared via Instagram, it is safe to say that she hit three more home runs when it comes to the outfit department.
Fans react to Tess and Stephen’s matching outfits
Shortly after Tess shared this oh-so telling TikTok video, Dancing With the Stars fans took to Reddit to discuss her and Stephen’s matching ensembles, with a user named @Hopeful_Canary1348 kicking off the conversation.
Sharing some photos of the cute-as-can-be couple, viewers could not help but rave about how adorable it is that Tess and Stephen match each and every episode, even though she is simply cheering from the sideline:
“That’s sweet! They are precious… I love Tess and Stephen’s relationship. It’s just so normal. All the videos and photos they share on social media, as well as their interactions in the comment sections of each other’s posts, give the vibes of two regular people in a relationship.”
“Why they are so adorable? 😍😍😍 They seem like genuinely nice people, and Tess strikes me as the hype girl that will cheer for you in a marathon, even if she does not know who you are. Her outfit match is so cute!”
“I noticed this too! Could they be any cuter?”
With the 500th episode of Dancing With the Stars quickly approaching — airing via ABC and Disney Plus on Oct. 12 — Stephen and Rylee are set to perform a Viennese Waltz to “Glimpse of Us” by Joji, inspired by Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas’ routine from season 31.
Will Tess manage to match the Dancing With the Stars duo once again? We will just have to wait and see what look she has in store, and needless to say, we are already on the edge of our seat.