Ryan Lochte Reportedly to Join Next Season's Cast of 'Dancing with the Stars'

Ryan Lochte has been embroiled in controversy ever since he fabricated a story about getting robbed during a night out at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but he's reportedly going to be back in the public eye in a few weeks. 

According to Us Weekly's Megan French, the six-time Olympic gold medalist will join the cast of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which is slated to premiere Monday, Sept. 12.  

ESPN.com's Darren Rovell confirmed Lochte is under consideration for the new season, but the network has yet to confirm the swimmer's status. 

"We do not comment on casting rumors," ABC spokesman George Zaralidis said, per Rovell. 

However, Rovell cited sources who said "negotiations proceeded so smoothly last week that Lochte was a virtual shoo-in to be on the 23rd season of the show."

"Doing DWTS will be great for Ryan’s image!" an insider told Us Weekly, per French. "He will be able to show America that he’s a good guy who made a mistake. He’s still an Olympic champion! He will be great on the show."

Reports of Lochte's candidacy for the dancing competition come on the heels of his involvement in an incident that overshadowed the latter days of the Olympics. 

After Lochte claimed to have been held up at gunpoint along with fellow American swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jimmy Feigen and Jack Conger, he backed off that story in a recent interview with NBC's Matt Lauer. 

Specifically, the 32-year-old said he "overexaggerated" his recollection of the evening's events after he took part in vandalizing a gas station bathroom and the swimmers paid armed guards 100 Brazilian reals and $20, according to ESPN.com news services, via ABC News. 

"It's how you want to make it look like," Lochte said, per ESPN.com. "Whether you call it a robbery or whether you call it extortion or us just paying for the damages, we don't know. All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money."

Prior to the interview, Lochte issued an apology via Instagram on Aug. 19: 

The names of other participants for the 23rd season of Dancing with the Stars have yet to surface, but French reported they "will likely include a few Olympic athletes."

But even if ABC is able to tab more Team USA standouts, no one figures to generate more buzz than Lochte.