Gymnast Nia Dennis Is ‘So Grateful’ After Viral Routines ‘Changed Her Life’: ‘I’ve Always Been The Underdog’
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Launch Gallery
Two years after first going super viral for her Beyoncé floor routine, former UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis revealed how her life has vaulted into fame & opportunities!
While Nia Dennis is now retired from her gymnastic days, her viral routines as a UCLA Bruin have changed her life for the years to come. The recent grad tumbled into the 2021 Met Gala, starred in the Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour alongside Simone Biles, and is now partnering with Pressed! “It’s been just one opportunity after the next and I honestly just feel so blessed and so grateful to be in this position,” she told HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview. “All my life I felt like I was kind of an underdog gymnast and didn’t necessarily get the credit that I feel like I deserved, so for it to finally pay off in my last two years of gymnastics felt very surreal and felt like all the hard work that I’ve been putting in was just totally worth it.”
Nia first caught the attention of the world in February 2020 when her Beyoncé-inspired floor routine at a dual meet against Utah amassed tens of millions of views online. “I wanted to feel confident and who better than to look up to them the Queen, right?” she recalled. With her exaggerated hair flip and imaginary crown on her head, judges gave Nia a 9.975 for the floor routine and a year later, she returned with something even more revolutionary. “There were other things I wanted to incorporate in my floor routine, that included Black culture and Black styles of dance, which just wasn’t as prominent in my Beyoncé routine as it was the following year.”
For her senior season, Nia wowed judges and the world once again with her ‘Black Excellence’ floor routine to music by Kendrick Lamar, Soulja Boy and Tupac. She kicked it off paying tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman as Lamar’s “Humble” played and the gymnast hit the “Wakanda Forever” salute, before going on to incorporate the Nae Nae and the Woah to represent over a decade of Black dance culture.
Now that her collegiate gymnastics career has come to an end, Nia told HL she is “excited to explore more about myself and explore different things since gymnastics consumed a lot of my life.” She added, “It’s gotten me to where I am now and I’m so thankful for that, but it’s definitely time to turn a new leaf and try some other things and I’m really excited to try it out.” One of the things Nia is incorporating into her post-grad life is the delicious Pressed juices!
Nia Dennis partnered with Pressed to share her new limited-edition Nia Dennis Routine, featuring her three favorite Pressed juices and three Pressed well-being shots. “They fill you up with vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants for all of your active or not active needs — just to stay healthy!” she explained. “For me, it’s about taking small steps to see big changes and big goals. And that’s always how I was in the sport of gymnastics — we focus on getting 1% better every single day. Pressed has helped me do that outside of the sport and incorporate it into my daily lifestyle.” You can get the Nia Dennis routine online at pressed.com or in-store.