Ezra Frech is Dancing with the Stars' first Paralympian in 8 years — and his partner already owns a Mirrorball
Every DWTS season has one pairing that makes me point at the TV like a Leonardo DiCaprio meme, and this year it took exactly one cast announcement to find it. Ezra Frech, 21-year-old Paralympic track god, is in the ballroom.
And the show did not ease him in gently. They handed him to Daniella Karagach — reigning weapon, Season 30 Mirrorball champion, the woman Derek Hough nicknamed "The Ferrari." That is not a partner. That is a performance vehicle.
The resume, because it's rude not to
Frech was born with congenital limb differences; his left leg was amputated when he was three. He then proceeded to become the kind of athlete the rest of us pretend to be in the shower:
- Two gold medals at the Paris Paralympics — high jump and the 100m.
- A USC track and field career, because apparently college was happening too.
- Now, the first Paralympian in the ballroom since 2018, when skier Danelle Umstead competed — eight years and roughly a thousand news cycles ago.
He's also, refreshingly, not pretending this is just a lark. In an interview with the Daily Trojan, he said of representing the disabled community on the show:
"It's always been a dream come true to get to represent the disabled community."
The Ferrari factor
Karagach doesn't do participation-trophy seasons. She won the whole thing with Iman Shumpert, got an Emmy nomination for her choreography, and treats precision like a religion. Pairing her with an elite athlete whose entire job is body control and repetition? The rest of the cast should be nervous.
The rest of the cast, per Frech himself, is apparently not the problem. Asked who he fears, he pointed at Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick, telling Entertainment Weekly:
"Guillermo is stiff competition."
A two-time Paralympic champion, scared of Guillermo. This show is perfect and I will not be taking questions.
Their premiere tango already landed near the top of the leaderboard, which means the vision board is working. Season's long. Ferrari's fast. Buckle up.
Previously we wrote: Taylor Frankie Paul is back filming Mormon Wives, and a castmate walked out over what she saw
