By Claire Barickman Editor-in-Chief and Camryn Harakal Sports Editor
“Dancing With the Stars” began its 33rd star studded season on September 17. The cast is filled with many fan favorite pros as well as a new pro Ezra Sosa who was promoted from troupe to main cast.
There are 13 couples with stars ranging from Olympic and pro athletes to reality TV stars and Hollywood legends. Returning to the show this season are hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro as well as judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
The couples this season are Joey Graziadei (The Bachelor) and Jenna Johnson, Stephen Nedoroscik (Olympic gymnast) and Rylee Arnold, Eric Roberts (Actor) and Britt Stewart, Ilona Maher (Olympic rugby player) and Alan Bersten, Phaedra Parks (Real Housewives of Atlanta) and Val Chmerkovskiy, Danny Amendola (NFL player) and Witney Carson, Chandler Kinney (Actor) and Brandon Armstrong, Anna Delvey (“Fake Heiress”) and Ezra Sosa, Brooks Nader (Model) and Gleb Savchenko, Reginald VelJohnson (Actor) and Emma Slater, Tori Spelling (Actor) and Pasha Pashkov, Dwight Howard (NBA player) and Daniella Karagach and Jenn Tran (Bachelorette) and Sasha Farber.
Let’s take a look at some of the stand-out couples! First, we have the first dance of the night. Joey’s country-style cha-cha to Tyler Hubbard’s “Dancing in the Country” was a great way to kick off the show. Joey did a great job keeping up with Jenna, his professional partner. Joey is from the most recent season of the reality show “The Bachelor.” He was a contestant in season 20 of “The Bachelorette” prior to being the star of “The Bachelor” season 28. He has gathered a following of nearly one million followers on Instagram. Though his score was the highest for nearly half of the first episode, it was not the highest at the end of the episode. His bubbly personality and positive attitude has already captured the fan base’s attention, and most viewers seem to really like him already.
The next stand-out duo was Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong, who performed an upbeat tango to “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan. This performance brought such fun energy into the ballroom and Chandler’s confidence in her moves really helped elevate this dance. Chandler is best known for her roles in Disney’s “Zombies 2” and “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.” Chandler and Brandon’s performance was by far the strongest of the night receiving eights from Carrie Ann and Bruno and a seven from Derek giving them a 23/30 for their first dance together. So far this duo has been one that many fans are betting on seeing in the finals, especially because Chandler reminds many of them of last season’s winner Xochitl Gomez.
The final stand-out couple was Stephen Nedorosick and Rylee Arnold, who danced a jive to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. The energy of this duo was unmatched, the way Rylee and Stephen managed to capture the attention of anyone watching was truly incredible. Stephen, also known as “pommel horse guy,” stole the nation’s heart this summer with his incredible performance at the Paris Olympics that helped secure USA’s first men’s gymnastics team medal in 16 years. This jive did an excellent job at highlighting Stephen’s personality, with the iconic glasses removal at the start (which he did before he competed at the Olympics) to the giant Rubix Cube that hung from the ceiling. While they weren’t the highest scorers of the night, they definitely made their impression as a new fan-favorite duo.
One couple who did not live up to their potential was Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko. Brooks Nader is a supermodel and actress. She has gathered two million Instagram followers over the course of her career. She is known for her impeccable style and her natural ability to pose in front of a camera. She has had multiple partnerships and collaborations with brands that have allowed her to become successful as a model. Many were excited to see Nader paired up with “Dancing With the Stars” pro Gleb Savchenko, who is known as the heartthrob of all of the pros. Fans thought that these two could have a very successful season together, considering Brooks danced in high school, but after night one, many weren’t sure that their time on the show will last long. Brooks’s tango to “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears lacked personality. They seemed to be stepping on each other and the dance didn’t have a flow. The tango is a dance with a lot of technique and I think that it was an ambitious pick for the couple’s week one dance. They got an 18/30 from the judges.
A controversial couple this season is Anna Delvey and Ezra Sosa. Anna Delvey was introduced as a “New York Fashionista.” Delvey was found guilty on charges of grand larceny in 2017. She pretended to be a heiress and used this fake identity to steal money from people in New York. She served five years in prison and was released in 2022. She inspired the Netflix Drama “Inventing Anna” which was released in 2022. Parts of this series are true, but other parts are completely fictional. Delvey’s professional partner Ezra Sosa thinks that being on “Dancing With the Stars” is her chance to rebrand herself and gain back her reputation. It is Sosa’s first year as a pro and he has really been trying across social media to get people excited about Anna being on the show, but many are skeptical of her intentions. As far as her first dance goes, they danced a cha cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song “Espresso.” Her attitude showed throughout the dance and made her seem ungrateful for her experience. Her movements weren’t fluid and her stage presence was not the best, but there is room for improvement. After the dance before receiving the scores, Delvey told the host that she was glad she never had to do that dance again, making fans even more unsure of how much they wanted her on the show. Her controversial nature and lack of excitement for being on the show has made many fans question whether she will remain on the show these next few weeks. Anna and Ezra got an 18/30 overall score.
The final couple that we are unsure of how far they will go is Reginald ValJohnson and Emma Slater. Reggie is best known for his roles in the show “Family Matters” and “Die Hard.” For their first dance, they performed a salsa to “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men. Reggie is one of the oldest contestants on this season of “Dancing With the Stars” and this shows in his dances. While it is very evident that he is having a great time and is excited to be there, his moves are lacking especially in this dance. While it is understandable that he might not be able to move as well as some of the younger contestants he should still be moving some, but in his first dance, Reggie basically stayed in one spot while Emma danced around him. While we love to see these older stars living out their dreams to be in the ballroom, it’s sadly very common for them to be eliminated within the first few weeks, and it seems that this will become true for Reggie and Emma this season.
Overall, this season has been very entertaining thus far and it will be interesting to see how these couples battle it out to win Season 33 and win the Mirrorball Trophy.
