Ryan Lochte has been less a swimmer and more a pseudo-celebrity for a good while now, and his latest stint on Celebrity Big Brother only solidifies that view.
Lochte was the second celebrity voted off the CBS show.
While he won the first Head of Household competition, his choice of an alliance left a lot to be desired.
His most memorable moments will include mispronouncing athletics (“ath-e-let-ics”), and not remembering Dina Lohen’s name (he repeatedly called her Diana).
The show was Lochte’s attempt at a reality TV comeback.
Last October he was forced to seek professional help for alcohol addiction following a drunken incident in his California hotel room.
Police were called to the scene in Newport Beach around 3 am but no arrests were made and Lochte was able to ease the situation with the hotel.
The incident prompted the 12-time Olympic medalist to acknowledge that his drinking is a serious issue that requires professional help before getting worse.
Lochte has an impressive haul of six Olympic gold medals, four of which were won as part of a stacked relay squad, but outside the pool he has exhibited close to zero practical intelligence.
Last year he posted a photo on social media of himself receiving an intravenous infusion.
The picture caught the attention of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which launched an investigation and suspended him for 14 months.
His suspension isn’t over until July, something not mentioned on Celebrity Big Brother.
There is growing doubt he’ll actually make the 2020 Olympic team.
Then there was that drunken visit he made to a Rio gas station during the last Olympics.
Lochte was arrested for vandalizing a gas station during the 2016 games in Brazil, and then returning to the US and lying about the incident.
Surveillance video shows Ryan Lochte, second from right, and teammates, appear at a gas station that he vandalized during the 2016 Olympics
The incident became known as “Lochtegate” after the swimmer admitted to “over-exaggerating the story” that he and his teammates had been robbed at gunpoint at the gas station.
He later said in an interview that he had been drunk.
He was suspended from domestic and international swimming competitions.
Lochte was guilty of extraordinarily poor judgment, compounded by his lying to the police and media, all while representing his nation.
He also left his teammates hanging, which is not cool.
He was quickly dropped by his sponsors Speedo, Ralph Lauren, Airweave and Syneron Candela.
After his Rio debacle, Lachte attempted image rehabilitation by turning to reality TV.
He was signed up for ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.
Disgraced Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will appear on Dancing with the Stars.
During the live premiere, he was nearly attacked when two men rushed the dance floor in anger about his participation on the show.
They were arrested, but the incident sent shock waves through the production team and celebrities.
Lochte addressed the incident on the following episode and became emotional, admitting it was hard to see his mother cry in the crowd.
Lochte was voted off the show about midway through the season.
But as bad as his behavior outside the pool has been, it was his original reality TV show that could make Lochte infamous.
In 2013, a mere 807,000 viewers tuned in to watch the debut of his highly hyped E! reality series, “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?”
In its review, the Hollywood Reporter tried to be nice, writing: “If you treat it like a sociological study, it nearly has value.”
Another reviewer on Amazon put it this way: “This show is stupid. Really, really, REALLY stupid. Mostly because Ryan Lochte is stupid.”
That said, there are a lot of memorable quotes from Lochte’s show.
Here are some highlights:
- “These are my shoes that I designed from top to the very sole to the very top to the bottom. Laces.”
- “I’ve talked in front of … like… a lot of big business people about stuff I didn’t even know.”
- “One of my favorite movies: What Women Want.”
- “One time I really had to go, man, and I was up in the next heat. So I got up on the blocks and I just started peeing in my Speedo. On top of the blocks. And I had my goggles on and started crying because I thought everyone behind me was looking at me and laughing. The starter said ‘Swimmers, take your marks, go.’ I took off. I don’t even know if I did the right stroke. I think that was probably the only time I’ve ever been nervous before a race.”
- “Something will pop up in my head. It could be like the weirdest thing. Like all’a sudden like I have like a jumping banana in my head. And I stop and pause. I’m like that damn jumping banana is in my head. Like, I don’t know what’s going on.”
- “You know what? Ryan Lochte is a pretty good speechmaker.”
How was this show not a hit?
An interview he did about his show with a Philadelphia news team remains a classic:
Ryan Lochte, despite being an Olympic champion, is in danger of becoming a permanent punchline.
Reality TV shows aren’t helping.