Peloton's Cody Rigsby Says Growing Up Homeless Gave Him 'Drive' to Succeed

The fitness instructor and Dancing with the Stars competitor says he and his mother spent time homeless during his youth in North Carolina

He may now be leading riders across the country to their spin class personal bests and dominating on the dance floor, but Cody Rigsby's journey hasn't been all smooth sailing.

The Peloton instructor and current Dancing with the Stars competitor opened up about his "challenging" youth in Greensboro, North Carolina, during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Tuesday.

"My mom was a single parent, she worked a lot of blue collar jobs, as a waitress, she worked at the [Greensboro Coliseum sports complex]," he recounted to host Clarkson. "It was really challenging growing up."

Now, though, Rigsby, 34, said, "I look back at that adversity and I look at the things that I went through and I look at where I came from — at a point we were homeless. We were living in motels, I was staying with parents of my friends. And you look back, and you're like, 'Wow that was a time that I was really going through it.' "

Those experiences, he explained, "Always gave me that drive, it always gave me that push that I knew I never wanted to be in that place again."

Rigsby just secured a spot in the DWTS season 30 finale and will compete against JoJo Siwa, Iman Shumpert, and Amanda Kloots next week.

In the semifinal this week, Rigbsy and pro partner Cheryl Burke were mentored by judge Bruno Tonioli for their redemption salsa to "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar and Lucenzo, which scored 35 out of 40. For their second dance, the pair performed an Argentine tango to "La Cumparsita" by Forever Tango for 36 out of 40.

This season hasn't been without challenges for Rigsby and Burke, who had to quarantine and perform remotely earlier this season after both contracting breakthrough cases of COVID-19.

Burke, 37, was the first to test positive in September, while Rigsby tested positive for the virus four days later.