Heating up the ballroom! Dancing With the Stars pros Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov had an instant dance chemistry that quickly translated into a real-life romance.
While the twosome grew up dancing with separate partners, Pashkov needed a new teammate in early 2009.
“My previous partner went to [join] Dancing with the Stars, so I was looking for a new partner,” the Russia native — who was 22 at the time — recalled to Dance Sport Info in June 2017. “My Standard coach said to me that I should try to dance with Daniella. I was not sure, as there was six and a half year [age] difference between us.”
He continued at the time: “However, my coach said, ‘[That] doesn’t matter, she is a right partner for you,’ and that was it. So, I called her up and I asked her to dance with me.”
After a 20-minute tryout, the pair had a feeling this was a special partnership. “We knew instantly that we were right for each other,” Karagach, who was 15 at the time, gushed to the outlet in 2017.
As a dancing duo, Karagach and Pashkov have won multiple international competitions together before making it to the Qualifiers round of World of Dance season 2. They both joined the cast of DWTS the next year, with Pashkov teaching Kate Flannery to dance and the New York native performing in the troupe. Karagach, for her part, received her first celebrity partner — Nelly — the following season.
In addition to working side-by-side on the ABC dancing competition, the choreographers’ romance has continued to blossom.
“Happy 8 year wedding anniversary @pashapashkov 
I didn’t think It was humanly possible to love someone this hard,” the season 30 mirrorball champ gushed via Instagram in July 2022. “Thank you for making me the luckiest woman in the world. IFLY.”
The Wedding Dance School cofounders returned for DWTS season 31, partnering with Teresa Giudice and Joseph Baena, respectively. Pashkov and Giudice were eliminated second in September 2022.
“I wanted to win the mirrorball because [Pasha’s] wife won it last season, so I wanted him to have the second trophy in their house, so they’d have two of them,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey alum told Us Weekly after her elimination, referring to Karagach’s victory with Iman Shumpert. “But there’s a lot of amazing dancers on the show. When I saw my competition, I’m like, ‘I’m definitely not winning it,’ but I tried.”
Sign up for Us Weekly’s free, daily newsletter and never miss breaking news or exclusive stories about your favorite celebrities, TV shows and more!
Scroll below for Karagach and Pashkov’s complete relationship timeline:
