The first two cast members of season 34 of Dancing With the Stars have a strong shot to bring home the mirrorball trophy before they even step foot in the ballroom — according to pro Daniella Karagach.
“We’re starting off with a bang!” Daniella told Us Weekly during a recent interview with her husband and fellow pro, Pasha Pashkov. “[Alix Earle and Robert Irwin] are probably gonna be in the finale. Alix, just with her votes alone, and then Robert is just such a sweetheart. I’m sure they’re gonna do really well.”
Pasha added, “The first two celebs are already so amazing, so I can only imagine what the season is going to look like.”
Acknowledging that DWTS is “the only dance show left,” Daniella credits influencers like Charli D’Amelio and now Alix for bringing a new audience to the reality competition series.
“Reality stars [and influencers] nowadays, they’re our celebrities. I know there are a lot of people who don’t understand the celebrity status [for the show] and are [asking], ‘Why are these TikTok [stars going on DWTS]?’ Because that’s what we are watching nowadays!” she told Us. “They’re on our screens all the time. People are on their phones. Before it was the actors and musicians. Now it’s people like Alix Earle who we’re all looking up to. We’re watching her and we’re like, ‘Oh, I want to hear what she has to say. I see her on the screen all the time, let me meet her in person, that’d be cool.’”
Daniella noted ‘it’s good to have both” newer stars and traditional celebrities on the cast.
Daniella Karagach, Alix Earle. Getty Images (2)
“I think we should definitely keep having movie stars but also the people on reality shows — and different reality shows like Survivor and Traitors. We have so many cool shows, I would love to meet someone from Claim to Fame or Alone — like Gina [Chick] who won Alone. That’s cool to me,” she said. “I think Deena Katz is doing such a great job casting the current people.”
Pasha agreed, but also credited the longevity of the show, which premiered in 2005.
“It’s the combination of that new age freshness and the social media hype with Gen Z and TikTok, but at the same time, the longevity of the show. It’s a show that’s been there for 20 years. We’re celebrating 20 years [this month],” he said. “You have already several generations that grew up on the show. On tour, we have fans waiting by the buses, so we get a chance to hear from them, interact with them and they’re telling us like, ‘Oh, this was a show that I was watching with my grandma growing up on Monday night and that’s how we bonded together.’ You see whole families coming to watch the show’s live tour — three or four generations. So you understand that now the audience is much larger. So I think it’s the longevity of the show plus the new hype on social media — the combination of that — is what gave a show a rebirth. We’re going into our 34th season, and I am sure it’s not the last one.”
Robert Irwin. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
None of the pros for the upcoming season of DWTS have been confirmed, but both Daniella and Pasha are hopeful to be included.
“Sometimes people think that we know [the cast in advance] and we don’t. We find out when everybody else finds out,” Pasha told Us. “A few days before you meet your celeb, that’s when you know if you are on a season.”
“People in the comments, like, ‘Oh, this is a hint for their partner,’” Daniella said. “I’m like, ‘I wish, I don’t even know who my partner is!”
For more from Daniella and Pasha, watch the video above, Dancing With the Stars will return to ABC in fall 2025.