'Dancing With the Stars' Winner Nyle DiMarco Reveals 'Bachelor' Contestant Who Used Sign Language Messed Up

Nyle DiMarco is calling out a contestant on The Bachelor who he says inaccurately used sign [...]

By Libby Birk

Nyle DiMarco is calling out a contestant on The Bachelor who he says inaccurately used sign language to woo Colton Underwood during the season premiere Monday night.

As speech pathologist Cassie spent alone time with Underwood during the show's three-hour premiere, she tried to teach the reality star signs for "you're cute," "rose" and "kiss."

DiMarco, who is deaf, pointed out that while the gesture seemed sweet in the moment, Cassie was actually signing incorrectly.

"Learned that sign language was featured on @BachelorABC last night," the Dancing With the Stars season 22 champion tweeted on Tuesday.

"Endearing but here is what she actually signed: 1) 'YOUR' cute (not you are) 2) RESTAURANT (not rose) 3) Two different signs for kiss in one sentence 'kiss-kiss,'" he explained alongside a clip of the moment.

In a follow-up tweet, he added "Now how to sign them? 1) CUTE then point whoever like this 2) Move up to your nose area, with your palm facing you (tap once on the outside of your nose and then over to the other side) 3) Pick one sign a. 1st sign -- pucker up a bit b. 2nd sign is perfect."

DiMarco has spoken out on behalf of the deaf community in the past; in November he slammed comedian Dane Cook for an offensive tweet about deaf people.

"When a deaf person wakes up late for work do they loudly sign 'F— MEEEE' to themselves as they hastily get ready?" Cook wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

DiMarco fired back with, "thank u, next," invoking Ariana Grande's single, and even mocked Cook's tweet using a SpongeBob SquarePants meme type to sarcastically ridicule him.

"WhEn A dEaF pErSoN wAKeS uP lAtE fOr wOrK dO tHeY lOuDy sIgN 'F— MEEEE' tO tHeMsElVeS aS tHeY hAsTiLy gEt ReAdY? 0_o," DiMarco tweeted.

A few months before that, DiMarco slammed the Netflix film Sierra Burgess Is a Loser in September for making a joke at the expense of a deaf person. In the scene in question, Shannon Purser's character pretends to be deaf in order to avoid speaking to someone who could recognize her voice.

"So one of my close friends' Deaf brother is in Sierra Burgess. When I learned, I was elated. Finally more Deaf actors/representation & ASL inclusion in films," DiMarco tweeted. "....Only to find out the deaf character was written and used for a terrible joke. PS — pretending to be Deaf is NOT ok."

"There were homophobic and transphobic jokes as well," he continued in reference to another scene in which Purser's character was offended that some people would think she was a lesbian for the way she looks.

"It is extremely easy to make jokes about marginalized/disenfranchised groups... but that makes you a lazy writer," he added. "And honestly you shouldn't make these jokes AT ALL because our lives are on the line."

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