Jason Mraz is dedicated to his Dancing With the Stars training, which is nothing like he’s done before.
“This show is the hardest thing I’ve done,” Mraz, 46, captioned a Saturday, October 7, TikTok video while in the rehearsal studio with pro partner Daniella Karagach. “There are no days off. Physically, I am pushing myself to the edge.”
He concluded: “And I’m about to go over it.”
In the clip, the Grammy winner and Karagach, 30, perfected part of their jive for the Tuesday, October 10, live show. Per a DWTS press release, the duo will dance to The Contours’ “Do You Love Me” during Motown Night.
Mraz has fast become one of the frontrunners on season 32 of the ballroom competition. During last week’s performance, his Latin Night rumba earned a score of 24 out of 30 — and judge Bruno Tonioli called him a contestant to watch.
“I’ve just been waiting for critique, so to continue to get flattery from the judges, it’s giving me confidence, but it’s also making me nervous,” Mraz exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, October 2.
Karagach chimed in: “It also means you’re working hard and you’re doing the right thing, clearly!”
While Mraz’s efforts are paying off on the dance floor, it wasn’t always his dream to join the competition.
“I can’t say it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but I have enjoyed writing music for dance because I love watching an audience dance,” he previously told Us in September. “But I feel because of that I’ve needed to really explore dance to see what’s possible in songwriting. So, this year I’ve had a lot of great experiences and I think this is going to be the best experience ever.”
Mraz jokingly added at the time that Karagach — who previously won DWTS season 30 with Iman Shumpert — had already started encouraging him to “do some pretty outrageous things.” He quipped, “I might be scared of getting hurt!”
Karagach, for her part, was elated when she found out that she would be dancing with Mraz.
“Well, I freaked out, that’s for sure. I used to listen, me and Pasha [Pashkov, my husband] … used to listen to Jason’s music all the time on really long road trips,” the pro dancer, who married Pashkov in 2014, told Us last month. “We used to listen to albums and when I found out I freaked out, but Pasha freaked even more, so that was great.”
Karagach and Pashkov welcomed their first baby, daughter Nikita, in May. Season 32 marks both of their first seasons since Nikita’s arrival. Pashkov, for his part, is dancing with Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix.
