Heavy/ABC/Getty
A DWTS pro is having a hard time.
A “Dancing With the Stars” pro is having a very hard time ahead of the season 32 premiere.
Daniella Karagach has been confirmed as a cast member for the new season, but that comes with a big commitment — one that will taking her away from her newborn daughter for several hours a day during rehearsals and show prep.
Karagach and her husband Pasha Pashkov welcomed their daughter Nikita in May 2023. The new parents got their first taste of being apart from their newborn when they traveled to New York City for the big cast reveal.
“Literally can’t stop crying,” Karagach captioned a post on her Instagram Stories on September 11, 2023. “Leaving my baby girl for the first time and my heart is quite literally about to break,” she added.
Here’s what you need to know:
Nikita Is Spending Time With Her Grandmother While Her Parents Are at Work
Since both Pashkov and Karagach will be busy with the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars,” their daughter will need to be cared for by someone else, perhaps a family member.
Prior to sharing her candid post about being sad to leave home, Karagach shared a video of Nikita with her grandmother, presumably Pashkov’s mom, Tatiana Pashkova.
“Reading sesh with grandma,” Karagach captioned the post. The woman was sitting on a couch with the baby in her lap and she was reading a book in Russian.
Neither Karagach nor Pashkov have spoken out about their decisions to join the cast of season 32 or the strain it will put on them mentally as they leave their baby at home for long periods of time.
Some Other DWTS Pros Have Chosen to Sit Out the Season to Be at Home With Their Families
While Karagach and Pashkov made the decision that they felt was best for them in returning to the show, some of their former co-stars have made the opposite decision after welcoming babies in 2023.
Both Lindsay Arnold and Witney Carson have decided to sit out the season.
“I’ve been thinking long and hard. Ultimately, this season is not going to work out for me and my family,” she continued. “I know that’s not the answer that probably some of you want to hear, but, at the end of the day, it’s what is best for me and my family,” Arnold said in a TikTok video uploaded before the official cast announcement.
Arnold and her husband, Sam Cusick, welcomed their second daughter in May 2023. Meanwhile, Carson welcomed her second child, a son named Jet, around the same time and she also won’t be returning to the show this year.
“This was not a decision that we took lightly at all. We definitely thought and prayed about it for a while. But we will not be doing ‘Dancing With the Stars’ this season,” she shared in a TikTok post of her own. Carson and her husband, Carson McAllister, moved to Florida in June 2023, which makes heading to California to participate in the show even more challenging.
Meanwhile, Peta Murgatroyd gave birth to her second son, Rio, in June 2023, and she is competing on season 32 as well.
READ NEXT: A Fourth DWTS Pro Confirms She Won’t Be Back for Season 32
Effie Orfanides has more than two decades of experience in entertainment journalism. She has been a contributor with Heavy since 2017 covering entertainment news. Effie is based in Tampa, Florida. More about Effie Orfanides
