Dancing With the Stars pro Daniella Karagach is weighing in after her husband, Pasha Pashkov, admitted it’s sometimes difficult to watch her perform with partner Ezra Frech.
“Every time I see him, he’s crying,” Karagach, 33, exclusively told Us on Tuesday, September 29, after Yacht Rock Night. “Ezra makes this man cry every time.”
Pashkov’s emotional reaction has affected Karagach as a result.
“For me, that makes me even more nervous,” she added. “I just want to support and I can’t because I can’t be there with him. But him and [his partner] Amber [Glenn] are so unreal.”
Karagach and Frech, 21, have become frontrunners in the competition since season 35 premiered earlier this month. After the pair’s Viral Hits Night performance left a good impression on the judges, Pashkov, 40, spoke to Us about his wife’s success in the ballroom.
“It’s always easier to watch Dani after I perform my dance, because then I don’t need to focus anymore and then I can just enjoy,” Pashkov told Us on September 22. “Today, they were going to do a couple of dances before us, so it’s always hard. You want to be there. You want to support.”
Pashkov said his main focus is still on his own performances.
“It’s, like, emotional, but then you also need to stay focused on your own dance,” Pashkov explained to Us. “So I usually enjoy it more when I get to go first, so then I can relax and then just enjoy. Last week was perfect because it was two separate nights. We could just, like, literally watch and support each other wholeheartedly.”
During Yacht Rock Night on Tuesday, Karagach and Frech scored 21 out of 30 for their foxtrot. (Glenn and Pashkov, meanwhile, earned the first 8s of the season and a total score of 24 out of 30.)
“Each week is going to present new challenges and we embrace it. We welcome it. We love it,” Frech told Us after the performance. “This was especially challenging trying to make it look smooth and trying to make a piece of technology that’s just carbon fiber and metal step with [my] brace.”
Frech has had “fun” with the entire experience, adding, “We literally go to rehearsal and we just try and figure things out and play around and throw things in the wall and see what sticks.”
The Paralympian expressed gratitude to Karagach for helping him throughout the journey.
“I’m letting her push me to the limits 100 percent. You don’t know where the limit is unless you push toward it and go past it,” he explained. “This is all such a beautiful experience. Everything was positive in my head and there was no fear.”
He continued: “But I wanted to make sure I nailed it, because I’m balancing on one leg and if our weight isn’t in the perfect position, [that’s a problem]. But really, I had the easy job there. I’m just out there with my leg up. She’s the one that’s working around me. She’s running around me.”
Karagach was just as happy about her partnership with Frech. “He makes me a better person every day,” she gushed. “He inspires me every single day.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
