Paralympian Ezra Frech explains why he deliberately wears an ‘unstable’ prosthetic leg on “DWTS”
Paralympian Ezra Frech explains why he deliberately wears an ‘unstable’ prosthetic leg on “DWTS”
Ryan ColemanThu, September 24, 2026 at 2:57 AM UTC
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Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Disney/Christopher WillardKey Points -
Paralympian Ezra Frech says he chooses to use a prosthetic leg that leaves him “unstable” while competing on Dancing With the Stars.
The 21-year-old athlete says that rather than use his “walking leg,” he opts for a “running blade” prosthetic for his left leg, which is longer than his right leg.
“That’s primarily so that when I’m running at top speed and the blade compresses a little bit at top speed, my hips are even,” he explained.
Ezra Frech is only the fourth paralympian to compete on Dancing With the Stars, and he’s taking viewers inside the unique prep he undergoes to get ballroom ready.
For season 35 of the popular reality competition series, Frech has been paired with Daniella “The Ferrari” Karagach, who, in only seven seasons competing as a pro, has taken home one Mirrorball trophy and made it to the finals on three other occasions. On the second episode, which aired Tuesday, Karagach and Frech danced a lively cha-cha to “Low” by Flo Rida, earning a high score of 21 tied by three other couples.
Frech debuted strongly during premiere week, but unquestionably surged to the front of the pack on Tuesday. The following day, he and Karagach took viewers behind the scenes of their prep for the performance during an installment of Frech’s “Behind the Ballroom” series on YouTube. He explained in the short video why he opts for a prosthetic that seems like it would put him at a glaring competitive disadvantage.
“With cha-cha, the strategy is to get cha-cha out of the way as fast as you can,” Karagach humorously explained. “It requires a lot of fast feet, but also fast foot.”
That prompted a chummy laugh from Frech, who was born with a congenital limb difference, meaning he was born without most of his left leg and all but one finger on his left hand. He explained to his 44,000 subscribers that each week of competition “is like a puzzle. There’s certain things I can do. There’s certain things I can’t do.”
Though Karagach assured the track and field star that he “can do everything,” he broke down exactly what he meant where the cha-cha and his disability are concerned. “In cha-cha, having a base of stability is important to the hip action, right? Because it allows you to be grounded when you’re pushing off the ground. But my running blade, which is what we’re dancing the cha-cha in, is taller than my actual leg.”
Why would Frech opt for a prosthetic that leaves him, to use his own word, “unstable?” He continued, “That’s primarily so that when I’m running at top speed and the blade compresses a little bit at top speed, my hips are even. Obviously, it was not designed for dancing. Not only is my base of stability not there — like I’m just unstable on the prosthetic — but then as well, my hips are off. I’m creating hip action from a point where my hips are angled.”
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Karagach explained further: “The reason we’re using your running blade as opposed to the walking leg is because it rebounds a certain way. So if you give it a little bit of a push or a hip action, it rebounds, rather than the walking leg, there’s no pressure with the floor. It’s kind of very clunky.”
Frech would know which prosthetic to use of course, having won two gold medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic games, in the men’s 100-meter and the men’s high jump.
Frech and Karagach on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ season 35 week 1Credit: ABC
Frech wowed not only the audience during the Dancing With the Stars season 35 premiere, but also his fellow contestants.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly after the close of the first episode, Grey’s Anatomy star Harry Shum Jr. called Frech “our inspiration,” adding that his and Karagach’s tango “blew my mind.” Podcaster Connor Wood simply called the routine “the most phenomenal dancing I have ever seen in my life.”
Dancing With the Stars airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
