Suni Lee reveals why she turned down opportunity to meet Justin Bieber at the 2021 Met Gala

Olympian says she and her sister had posters and blankets of Peaches singer when they were younger

Sunisa “Suni” Lee has revealed that she turned down Hailey Baldwin’s offer to be introduced to Justin Bieber at the 2021 Met Gala because she was “too scared” to meet her idol.

The Olympic gold medalist, who is currently competing on season 30 of Dancing With The Stars, recalled the missed opportunity during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday.

According to the 18-year-old gymnast, who told DeGeneres that she had reminded herself not to “fangirl” ahead of the exclusive fashion event, she met celebrities including Rihanna and Hailey Baldwin, who offered her the chance to meet her husband Justin Bieber.

“I met Hailey Bieber - oh, my gosh, I love her,” Lee recalled. “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 to Justin Bieber’s Stay for my first Dancing With The Stars dance. And she was like: ‘You should tell him.’ And I’m like: ‘Ok.’”

However, when it came time for Lee to meet Bieber, she told DeGeneres that she couldn’t muster up the courage.

“And then when I got the chance to see him, I got too scared. I was like: ‘I’m not doing it,’” Lee continued.

The athlete’s admission prompted DeGeneres to ask: “You didn’t walk over to him to say hi? He’s so nice, he’s so sweet,” to which Lee confirmed that she hadn’t because she was “too scared” to approach the Peaches singer.

While Lee didn’t meet Bieber at the Met Gala, DeGeneres told the 18-year-old that she hopes she gets the chance to in the future, at which point the DWTS contestant said she hopes so as well because she and her sister were huge fans of the singer growing up.

“I hope so, too, because 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,” the Olympian revealed, before joking: “Justin, if you’re watching this, forget I said that.”

For this year’s Met Gala, Lee, who won gold in the individual all-around at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, wore a gold top and matching floor-length skirt by Sukeina.

Of the opportunity to attend the annual gala, Lee previously told Vogue: “It was just incredible and it felt so surreal to be able to say I’m going to the Met gala at 18.”