UCLA's Nia Dennis Takes Over Met Gala Red Carpet

The former UCLA gymnast performed on the front steps during the arrival portion of the viral event.

One of the biggest nights in fashion and culture served up a surprise Bruin cameo.

Recently graduated UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis appeared at the 2021 Met Gala in New York City on Monday night. She made quite the entrance as well, setting her apart from Justin Bieber, Zendaya, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Naomi Osaka and the other celebrities who showed up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dennis followed a full marching band onto the front steps, and then performed a routine full of splits, back handsprings and walkovers.

The Brooklyn United Marching Band led Dennis down the carpet wearing red, white and blue, in spirit of this year's theme: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.”

Dennis herself donned a blue long sleeve unitard – a tame choice compared to the far more outlandish outfits on display Monday.

Dennis just finished her fourth and final season competing for UCLA in April, earning a nod as a finalist for the AAI Award for most outstanding senior gymnast in the country. Across her collegiate career, Dennis was an NCAA champion, First Team All-American on the uneven bars and a seven-time All-Pac-12 honoree.

The gymnast hit the mainstream in January when her Black excellence floor routine to Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Missy Elliot earned millions of views online. Dennis was just the latest Bruin to have a floor routine go viral – Katelyn Ohashi famously did so back in 2019 – but while Ohashi got to go the the ESPYS, Dennis earned the spotlight at the Met Gala.

Dennis left Westwood right before the NCAA started allowing student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness rights. If Dennis had stuck around an extra year, her combined 700,000 followers on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok – in addition to her Met Gala appearance – would have made her one of the most valuable athletes in the country.

For now, Dennis can take solace in the fact that her cartwheels across the steps of the Met looked better than Jason Derulo's.

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