Sometimes you can’t bring yourself to meet your idol.Suni Leehad the opportunity to meetJustin Bieberat the2021 Met Galaearlier this month thanks to his wife Hailey Baldwin – but didn’t accept.In a sneak peek of herappearance on Thursday’s episodeofThe Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 18-year-old Olympic gold medalist recalled turning down the offer to meet Bieber, 27, and expressed her regret for not taking it.“I met Rihanna,” she toldEllen DeGeneresof her Met Gala experience. “I met Hailey Bieber—oh, my gosh, I love her.““I talked to her, and I was shaking, and I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Suni.’ And then I was just telling her how I was dancing toJustin Bieber’s ‘Stay’ for my firstDancing With the Starsdance. And she’s like, ‘You should tell him.’ And I’m like, ‘OK,’ " Lee recalled.Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.The gymnast performed the jive to Bieber and The Kid LAROI’s song “Stay” for her debutDWTSwithSasha Farber, earning a 28 a 40 score from the judges.Lee clarified that when the time came for her to say hello to the “Peaches” singer during fashion’s biggest night, however, she froze.Sunisa Lee; Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Matt Baron/Shutterstock"Then when I got the chance to see him, I got too scared. I was like, ‘I’m not doing it,’ " she told DeGeneres, 63.Shocked, the host asked “You didn’t walk over to him and say hi? He’s so nice. He’s so sweet.“Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue"No, I was so scared,” the Auburn University freshman admitted.DeGeneres told the Olympian she hopes she’ll be able to connect with Bieber in the future, to which she responded, “I hope so, too.“TheDWTScontestant said she was once a total Belieber, explaining, “Me and my sister, when we were younger, we had posters of him and blankets of him, and the posters have kissy marks on it with red lipstick.““So Justin, if you’re watching, just forget that I said that,” she said with a laugh, adding, “Yeah, I really want to meet him.“Lee, the first-ever Hmong American Olympic gymnast, is a superstar in her own right.Suni Lee.Jamie Squire/GettyShewon three medalsduring the Tokyo Summer Olympics: a gold in the individual all-around; silver withSimone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum during the team final; and bronze in the uneven bars.Since her Olympic success, shestarted college, begancompeting onDWTS, and wasnamedone ofTIMEmagazine’s100 Most Influential People in the World.The outletshared a videoof Lee reacting to the happy news, which her sister shared. In the clip, she leaped into the air and exclaimed “No way!““This milestone has and continues to inspire the Hmong community,” fellow Olympic champion Nastia Liukinwrote for TIMEof Lee’s success and larger impact. “But it also sends a simple yet powerful message to underrepresented people everywhere: Dream big because anything is possible.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.Voicing her pride in representing the Hmong community, Leetold PEOPLEin June that her history-making accomplishment “means a lot to the Hmong community … and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people [means] a lot to me too.”
Sometimes you can’t bring yourself to meet your idol.
Suni Leehad the opportunity to meetJustin Bieberat the2021 Met Galaearlier this month thanks to his wife Hailey Baldwin – but didn’t accept.
In a sneak peek of herappearance on Thursday’s episodeofThe Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 18-year-old Olympic gold medalist recalled turning down the offer to meet Bieber, 27, and expressed her regret for not taking it.
“I met Rihanna,” she toldEllen DeGeneresof her Met Gala experience. “I met Hailey Bieber—oh, my gosh, I love her.”
“I talked to her, and I was shaking, and I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Suni.’ And then I was just telling her how I was dancing toJustin Bieber’s ‘Stay’ for my firstDancing With the Starsdance. And she’s like, ‘You should tell him.’ And I’m like, ‘OK,’ " Lee recalled.
Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.
The gymnast performed the jive to Bieber and The Kid LAROI’s song “Stay” for her debutDWTSwithSasha Farber, earning a 28 a 40 score from the judges.
Lee clarified that when the time came for her to say hello to the “Peaches” singer during fashion’s biggest night, however, she froze.
Sunisa Lee; Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Matt Baron/Shutterstock
“Then when I got the chance to see him, I got too scared. I was like, ‘I’m not doing it,’ " she told DeGeneres, 63.
Shocked, the host asked “You didn’t walk over to him and say hi? He’s so nice. He’s so sweet.”
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
“No, I was so scared,” the Auburn University freshman admitted.
DeGeneres told the Olympian she hopes she’ll be able to connect with Bieber in the future, to which she responded, “I hope so, too.”
TheDWTScontestant said she was once a total Belieber, explaining, “Me and my sister, when we were younger, we had posters of him and blankets of him, and the posters have kissy marks on it with red lipstick.”
“So Justin, if you’re watching, just forget that I said that,” she said with a laugh, adding, “Yeah, I really want to meet him.”
Lee, the first-ever Hmong American Olympic gymnast, is a superstar in her own right.
Suni Lee.Jamie Squire/Getty
Shewon three medalsduring the Tokyo Summer Olympics: a gold in the individual all-around; silver withSimone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum during the team final; and bronze in the uneven bars.
Since her Olympic success, shestarted college, begancompeting onDWTS, and wasnamedone ofTIMEmagazine’s100 Most Influential People in the World.
The outletshared a videoof Lee reacting to the happy news, which her sister shared. In the clip, she leaped into the air and exclaimed “No way!”
“This milestone has and continues to inspire the Hmong community,” fellow Olympic champion Nastia Liukinwrote for TIMEof Lee’s success and larger impact. “But it also sends a simple yet powerful message to underrepresented people everywhere: Dream big because anything is possible.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Voicing her pride in representing the Hmong community, Leetold PEOPLEin June that her history-making accomplishment “means a lot to the Hmong community … and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people [means] a lot to me too.”
source: people.com
