Amber Glenn, Ezra Frech Join Dancing With the Stars in Historic Olympic-Paralympic Gold Medal Cast
NEW YORK — Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn and Paralympic track and field champion Ezra Frech will compete on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars," joining a 16-celebrity field announced Wednesday on "Good Morning America" and giving the long-running ABC series its first pairing of an Olympic gold medalist and a Paralympic gold medalist in the same season.
Glenn, 26, will dance with professional partner Pasha Pashkov. Frech, 21, is paired with Daniella Karagach. Season 35 is scheduled to open with a two-night premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC and Disney . Episodes are set to stream the following day on Hulu.
The announcement puts two of the most decorated young American athletes of the current Olympic cycle onto a ballroom floor that has long favored gymnasts, skaters and other competitors with elite body control. It also creates a calendar problem for Glenn, who is still listed on the fall Grand Prix figure skating circuit, and a high-visibility platform for Frech as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In the official reveal package, Frech put the ambition in a single line: "I won the gold and hopefully the mirror ball." Glenn, introduced as the skater who might take a triple Axel from the ice to the studio, answered, "Wait until you see my flare."
A dream Glenn has talked about for years
Glenn is not arriving as a reluctant celebrity booking. Months before the cast reveal, she said the show had been on her list since she watched ice dancer Meryl Davis win Season 18 in 2014.
"I would love to do 'Dancing With the Stars.' Oh my God, it's been a dream of mine since I saw Meryl do it in 2014," she said on the "House of Maher" podcast hosted by rugby Olympian and former contestant Ilona Maher. She told Maher she could talk "all day" about the sets, music, makeup and costumes.
"I just have so much respect for it, and it's so beautiful," Glenn said. "I'll listen to songs, and I'll just see it in my head. Like 'This would be perfect for that,' and 'This would be perfect for this.'"
After the Milano Cortina Games, she was asked about a post-Olympic bucket........
