Heavy/ABC Cast members from "Dancing With the Stars" season 32.
“Dancing With the Stars” contestant Ariana Madix wants to go on a double date with her pro partner Pasha Pashkov and his wife Daniella Karagach. The “Vanderpump Rules” star pitched an idea to go out with the pro dancer pair under the guise of a dance lesson for her boyfriend, Daniel Wai.
In an October 2023 interview with People magazine, Madix, 38, said she’s too new to the dance game to teach Wai any moves.
“I’m sure he would love for me to teach him some tango moves, but I only just learned them,” she said. “I would need Pasha to give Daniel tango lessons. We need a double date — Pasha and Dani, and me and Daniel.”
In addition to Madix and Pashkov, Karagach and singer Jason Mraz are partners this season on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Daniel Wai Has Supported Ariana Madix Every Week in the Ballroom
In March 2023, Madix’s 10-year relationship with Tom Sandoval ended after she discovered he cheated on her with her friend Raquel Leviss. She met Wai, a fitness trainer, while at a friend’s wedding in Mexico not long after her split from Sandoval.
Fans have seen Wai front and center every week in the DWTS ballroom. He lives and works in New York so he takes frequent cross-country flights.
“He sacrifices his sleep and time to help me with anything I need, and then he takes a red-eye back and goes straight to work,” Madix told Us Weekly in an October 2023 cover story interview.
Madix also told Extra TV she really likes the support of her boyfriend and friends in the ballroom. In addition to Wai, pals Scheana Shay, Brock Davies and Kristen Doute have been spotted in the DWTS audience. Her brother Jeremy also cheered her on in the ballroom.
“I was actually worried a little bit that it would make me nervous seeing them, like if it would take me out of my element or put me in my head,” she told Extra. “But then ultimately seeing them, feeling that love, was actually really helpful.”
Madix Loves Working With Pasha Pashkov
Madix has a lot going on with “Vanderpump Rules” and Something About Her, the upcoming sandwich shop she’s set to open with pal Katie Maloney. But despite her busy schedule, she jumped at the chance to work with Pashkov on “Dancing With the Stars.”
“I already won because I have the best partner,” she told Us Weekly in September 2023.
In a separate interview, Madix said given the choice, she would continue on “Dancing With the Stars” forever. “I’m having the best time,” she told Us in October. “If I could do rehearsals and performances every day for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. I find it so rewarding and fun.”
Madix also told the outlet that working with Pashkov makes her forget she’s in a competition. “It doesn’t feel like a competition [but] more like this fun thing that we’re all doing together, that we’re all lucky to experience — the cast, the pros and the crew included,” she said.
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