Paralympic Champion Ezra Frech Is Dancing on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars
Paralympic gold medallist Ezra Frech is one of the competitors on Dancing With the Stars Season 35. He is paired with professional dancer Daniella Karagach. The Hollywood Reporter reported the pairing in an interview with Frech this week.
Frech and figure skater Amber Glenn are the only two athletes in this season's cast. Glenn is partnered with Pasha Pashkov. Frech describes the two of them as teammates, working through the competition alongside their partners. Karagach and Pashkov are married and have a 3-year-old daughter, Nikita. E! Online reported that Nikita calls Frech "Superman."
Frech won two gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, taking the T63 100 metres and the high jump. The T63 category is for athletes with certain lower-limb impairments. He is a Los Angeles native. He told Entertainment Tonight that he felt "full body joy" when he learned Karagach would be his partner. He has also said the show had been on his vision board for a while.
He says his reason for taking part is to represent the disabled community and people with disabilities more broadly. He named Amy Purdy, Daniel Durant and Noah Galloway as earlier contestants who brought disability representation to the show. Frech also said the season falls during his three-month track and field offseason, which made the timing workable. In the Hollywood Reporter interview, he discussed what it would mean to be the first amputee to win the show.
On the scoreboard, the pair opened with three sevens from the judges on Viral Hits Night in Week 2, dancing a cha cha to a Flo Rida song. On Super Bowl Night in Week 5 they scored 36 out of 40. On Dedication Night in Week 6 they earned the season's first 10 paddle, the card judges hold up for a perfect mark. Their most recent recorded score is 26 out of 40 for Horror Movie Night in Week 7.
The show airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., simulcasting on ABC and Disney+. Episodes are available the next day on Hulu. The season finale is scheduled for November 24. Viewers can watch the live show or wait for the next-day episode, and the schedule does not change for the final.
For viewers, the next few weeks will show whether the pairs keep dancing through to the finale. Each Tuesday brings a new round of scores, and the judges' paddles decide who goes home.
