‘Dancing With the Stars’ Cast Tells Us What They 1st Thought of Their Partnerships
Dancing With the Stars season 33 has its cast, bringing together professional athletes, reality TV royalty, models and more to vie for the coveted Len Goodman Memorial Mirrorball trophy.
“I think it's gonna be an excellent season. I think that this is one of the few seasons where there really isn't an automatic frontrunner,” DWTS host Alfonso Ribeiro exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 4. “Like, I don't know who's gonna be a good dancer or not. So it's kind of, like, on our premiere night … it's gonna be like, ‘Here you go. Who's great? We don't know.’”
Ribeiro, 53, further explained that, overall, season 33 seems to be “a really fun cast.”
“Their hearts are all in the right spot,” he gushed. “They all want to be a part of this — and Eric Roberts over there [is] already talking [smack].”
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From Oscar nominee Roberts, 68, to Olympic champion Ilona Maher, keep scrolling to find out how the stars — and the pro dancers — first reacted to the partnerships:
Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold
Going into season 33, Nedoroscik initially was unsure “who [he] was gonna get.”
“I was looking at all the pros and I was like, ‘I really hope I get Rylee,’ so I was so excited I got Rylee,” the Olympic bronze medalist, 25, told Us on Wednesday.
Rylee, who made her pro debut in season 32, is equally excited to teach Nedoroscik how to jive.
“I walked in [the rehearsal studio] and he was just, like, a light [and] is just so kind,” Arnold, 19, gushed. “He has such a good soul and immediately came into it. He was competitive, he wanted to work hard, he wanted to dance and get good at what we were doing and so, I'm so grateful he's my partner.”
Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten
Bersten told Us that it felt like he “won the lottery” in his partnership.
“Ilona is awesome,” Bersten, 30, said on Wednesday. "We have so much fun in rehearsals [and] she works so hard. I legit cannot ask for anything else. Every time someone’s like, ‘Whose your dream partner?’ I’m like, ‘Ilona,’ and here she is. I’m so lucky.”
For the Olympic rugby player, she is equally “excited” to learn from Bersten.
“I wanted Alan because I had seen that he can be tough on his partners, which is scary, but also I’ve always responded well to that with coaching and whatnot,” Maher, 28, said on Wednesday. “I think it’ll be good for me in a way. I think he’s gotten better, [and] I am excited to have a partner like him. We vibe off each other really well, I think. He allows me to express myself and really wants me to. I think he sees the value in that personality and showing myself on the dance floor, as well.”
Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko
As for Savchenko, his first impression of the 27-year-old supermodel was that “she’s hot.” Nader then told Us that she “felt the same way.”
“I was, like, ‘Oh my, God. Perfect,’” Nader said, before Savchenko, 40, noted that they already have “good vibes” together.
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Anna Delvey and Ezra Sosa
“‘Thank God,’” Delvey, 33, recalled of what she said when she found out the first-time pro would be her DWTS partner. “I can’t say the answer that I wanna say. I’ve been banned from that. No, I was happy it was Ezra and not somebody else. I thought it could have been worse.”
Sosa, meanwhile, thought that Delvey seemed “super sweet” and couldn’t wait to bedazzle her ankle monitor. (Delvey is on house arrest after she was released from prison on parole in 2021.)
“She has a really dry sense of humor, which is, like, my personal favorite,” Sosa, 23, added. “So we've been getting along really well.”
Eric Roberts and Britt Stewart
Roberts was initially “scared to death” of Stewart, 34.
“I mean, this is hard and I'm not a dancer,” Roberts told Us. “She is a dancer and she has to start from the ground up with me and I felt terrible, but she makes me happy every day.”
Stewart, meanwhile, is “just grateful” to teach Roberts how to dance, telling Us, “What he has done in his career is so impressive and is amazing, and so, I am just grateful to have him as my partner and looking to bring him to light in the ballroom.”
Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson
The former Bachelor, 29, was “stocked” to get Johnson, 30, because his sister is a major fan.
“My sister watches the show and she was hoping I was gonna be with Jenna,” Graziadei quipped. “So, when I found out, I couldn’t wait.”
Johnson, for her part, told Us that she was “excited” to partner up with Graziadei.
“He’s tall, he’s athletic [and] I was like, ‘Yes, yes and yes,’” she recalled.
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Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy
Not only will Chmerkovskiy compete against his wife, Johnson, for the mirrorball, but he is paired with his brother Maks Chmerkovskiy’s former Traitors season 2 costar.
“I'm very excited,” Val, 38, said. “The first thing she said was, ‘Oh man, I wanted Maks, but you're the next best thing.’ I'm very excited. Phaedra is so impressive as a human — we’re getting there as a dancer — but as a human being, she's just been an absolute wealth.”
Parks, 50, further praised Val as the “second coming” of his older brother.
“I didn't have a clue … who I was going to get,” Parks said. “I was just praying, 'Jesus, Lord Jesus, please let it be right and let them be good.’ And he's won more mirrorballs than anyone. His record sort of speaks for itself.”
Tori Spelling and Pasha Pashkov
According to Pashkov, Spelling, 51, walked into the studio “so bubbly [and] so alive” to get started.
“[She was] so ready to do it. Not scared of anything,” Pashkov, 38, said. “She’s like, ‘I'm willing to take any risk.' And so, I mean, if you're coming in without mentality, I couldn't ask for anything more.”
Spelling, for her part, feels “like [their] personalities blend together really well,” citing that Pashkov understands her sense of humor without letting her procrastinate on the task at hand.
Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach
The NBA star first realized the pair’s large height difference.
“[I noticed] how tall I am and how short [she] looks compared to each other. That was probably the first thought,” Howard, 38, told Us. “After that, our energy, our chemistry and everything just shined through, so I don't even see our height as being a problem.”
Karagach, 30, teased to Us to “just wait” to see if their respective heights cause a problem on the dance floor.
“He is already the most amazing partner, so I’m just excited to get started,” Karagach said. “All I could ask is for him just to have an open mind to this whole process, and he already does!”
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Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong
Armstrong, 30, initially thought the Pretty Little Liars actress, 24, could be his long-lost relative.
“Honestly, I’m adopted, so when she came to the door, I was like, ‘She could be my sister. Is that crazy?’” he joked on Wednesday. “We gonna do a 23AndMe [DNA test] real quick.”
Kinney further noted that the pair “got on from the moment [they] met.”
“I'm like running in [and said] hello. I think I was speaking like two octaves up,” Kinney told Us. “Like, I was just so excited to meet him and see his face like running in. So yeah, it's gonna be great.”
Danny Amendola and Witney Carson
Carson, 30, was “stoked” about her partnership, telling Us, “I have not had an NFL player for a really long time, so I was really excited to get Danny.”
Carson added, “My husband [and] my brothers, they're super stoked about it. I just know the history with wide receivers on the show, two of them have won, so I was extremely excited.”
Reginald VelJohnson and Emma Slater
Slater, 35, revealed to Us that she “couldn’t help but cry a little bit” when she first saw the Family Matters alum, 72, in the dance studio.
“I’m such a fan and I have watched Die Hard every year for, honestly, decades,” Slater said.
VelJohnson, meanwhile, took one look at Slater’s face and “fell in love,” he recalled on Wednesday before adding, “She’s wonderful."
Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber
Tran, 26, only learned that she was joining the show “45 minutes” before her flight left Los Angeles, where she was filming the live Bachelorette finale, to make it to New York City for the cast reveal.
“[This] morning was insane. Like, I got a call, it was early in the morning saying, ‘You need to get on a flight in 45 minutes,’” Farber, 40, told Us on Wednesday. “I was flying down to get to the airport. I didn't have a ticket. I didn't even meet [Jenn and then] I see her running to security. I was like, ‘That must Jenn. God, I need to be where she's going.’”
Once they made their flight with ten minutes to spare, the pair started bonding.
"Immediately, like, we were just bantering,” Tran recalled. “Like, I feel like I've known him for like 40 years.”
Dancing With the Stars season 33 premieres on ABC Tuesday, September 17, at 8 p.m. ET and will be simulcast on Disney+.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
