What To Know
- Ezra Sosa, rumored to return as a pro for Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars, advocates for pairing two men together.
- Sosa reveals which Heated Rivalry star he’d want to partner with on the show.
If Dancing With the Stars wants to pair two men together, last season’s finalist Ezra Sosa, rumored to be returning for Season 35, has an idea that a lot of people would say “OK” to – and not find “boring” at all!
DWTS has danced (pun intended) with the idea of pairing two men together on the show. In Season 31, drag performer Shangela (Darius Jeremy Pierce) was paired with Gleb Savchenko. The pair finished in fifth place, no easy feat!
In Season 34, veteran pros Derek Hough (who serves as one of the show’s judges) and Mark Ballas, who have nine Mirrorball trophies between them, danced an Argentine tango in the finale. Two men dancing together had become popular in Argentina in the late 1800s due to a population imbalance between the sexes.
Sosa, who’s rumored to be returning as a pro for Season 35, tells TV Insider that it’s time for the dance reality competition series to pair two men together for an entire season.
“I think the timing is right because of Heated Rivalry and all the other [shows] that have paved the way,” Sosa offers, adding that there’s been a same sex couple on DWTS with two women, JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson, who came in second place in Season 30.
ABC/Christopher Willard
“There was a beauty behind a partnership in Derek and Mark’s Argentine tango,” Sosa adds.
So, if schedules were to allow for either Hudson Williams (Shane Hollander) or Connor Storrie (Ilya Rozanov) to partake in Season 35 of DWTS, which actor would Sosa prefer as his star partner?
“There’s something about Connor and his energy that’s so infectious, I definitely feel like we’d click,” Sosa says. “I can see myself meshing with Hudson, but I think Connor would be a really fun time.”
Sosa’s thrilled that Dancing With the Star: The Next Pro has created a platform for the mother show to find future dance pros, especially now that So You Think You Can Dance has gone to that great skybox in the sky.
“It’s a really cool concept and it’s a great way to give dancers a platform. I’m happy that there’s a Dancing With the Stars version of [SYTYCD],” Sosa says.
“I gained so much from my first season on Dancing With the Stars,” Sosa adds. “I was first to go, but I gained so much from that experience. I gained exposure and I gained followers. If you think you’re going to something like this, it’s all about having a strong mindset. If you go in thinking you’ll gain something, you will.”
Sosa’s experiences in his first two years could not have been more different. He was one of two pros to be ejected in the second week when he and his celebrity partner, Anna Delvey, were voted off.
Delvey’s casting had come under fire as her claim to fame was her notoriety recounted in the Netflix series Inventing Anna. She had posed as a Russian heiress and was convicted of grand larceny, second-degree larceny, and theft of services. Asked by host Julianne Hough what she would be taking with her when she left the show, Delvey quipped, “Nothing.”
The Internet debated whether Delvey meant she didn’t care for her short run on the show – or that she wouldn’t be making off with any beaded gowns.
Last season, Sosa’s second, he and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles went to the finals. Sosa was stunned to advance over one of his idols, Mark Ballas.
“Growing up and watching the show, Mark and Derek were the guys,” Sosa says. “Mark is still at the top of his game. It was so special going to the finals. Mark was so cool about it. I felt like I didn’t deserve it in my second season. Mark reminded me that I did deserve it. Just to hear that from him meant so much.”
While there have been changes to the show over the years, Sosa will never forget watching the show in its early years when he was about seven years old.
“My family loved watching the show,” he recalls. “It was probably the only time in our week [that we did the same thing] because we were all so busy. It’s really cool now to be on the other side and hear from families now who say they watch with their moms, their grandmothers, their sisters, and their cousins. I align with all of that perfectly because that was me when I was a kid.”
Dancing With the Stars, Season 35 Premiere, Tuesday, September 15, 8/7c, ABC