American gymnast, gold and silver medalist at the Rio Olympic Games, and contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" Laurie Hernandez has taken the world by storm as the most lovable, adorable, amazing, you-wish-you-were-her teenager. At just 16, the young lady has a gold medal from the Olympics, a chance at the "Dancing With the Stars" mirror ball trophy and over 1.5 million followers on Instagram. So here's a list of seven reasons why she is so cool and amazing.
1. She's the human emoji!
2. Team Valaur
Laurie Hernandez is paired with dancer Val Chmerkovskiy on "Dancing With the Stars" and the two are the perfect match. They make the absolute cutest DWTS couple ever and are so funny together!
3. Michael Jackson...
The two danced to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" as their fourth performance on the show and got the first perfect 10's of the season! Laurie received incredible feedback from the judges after nailing the dance and was speechless when she found out the score!
4. Her Instagram.
If you've ever even glanced at Laurie's Instagram, you would know that it is filled with adorable, hilarious videos of her and her partner Val. The videos mostly feature the two goofing around in the dance studio having a blast. Some of the most watched videos are "That's Too Much Sauce" and "Lebron James."
5. It's takes two to...
While preparing to perform a challenging tango on the show, Val asked Laurie "It's about a relationship between two people because it takes two to..." "Make a thing go right?" "No it doesn't take two to make a thing go right, what does it take two to?" "It takes two to tango." This moment has been played over and over in interviews because of how funny Laurie is in it.
6. The quesadilla
Before going on stage to perform their tango, Laurie was struggling to find a way to show such mature emotion. But just in time she had a "light bulb moment" and figured out that she needed to pretend like she was smelling a really good quesadilla during the dance. This technique actually helped her remain safe from elimination that week! The picture above is Laurie imitating what it looks like to smell a quesadilla.
7. Most influential teen
Laurie Hernandez was named one of TIME Magazine’s most 30 influential teens. The story included the topics of the Olympics, "Dancing With The Stars" and her influence on young Latina girls.