Alek Skarlatos isn’t a star in the traditional sense of Dancing With The Stars. Before foiling a terror plot on a French train this past summer, Alek was just a normal dude from Sacramento who had finished basic training and was looking to have some fun with his childhood friends. Now, he’s received all kinds of medals of valor, he’s on Dancing With The Stars, and he is pretty much a household name. His family is immensely proud of him, and it was adorable how Alek’s dad got so choked up when describing his son on the Dancing With The Stars interviews this week.
Alek’s dad was saying how happy and proud he was of his son when he decided to join the Armed Forces, but he continued on to say that he didn’t realize the immensity of what his son had done until he began to see it on the news. It must have been so surreal to have been watching it all! His father continued, getting choked up, noting that he thinks about how the gun could have gone off (the gun of the terrorist on the French train jammed, giving Alek and his friends opportunity to take him down) and how brave his son is. It was a very touching moment, and it showed the wonderful family that Alek clearly comes from.
Alek and partner Lindsay Arnold took this emotion and danced with it, doing a number to “America the Beautiful.” The judges ate it all up, giving Alek and Lindsay a perfect score of 30 for their efforts. Who would have thought that this non-dancer would be in the semi-finals of Dancing With The Stars Season 21? With only a week left, Alek has quite the shot of winning this whole thing, and it’s lovely to see the support he has from his family and friends.
Images: Adam Taylor/ABC
