The real-life couple stopped by ET on Tuesday to recap Disney Night on 'Dancing With the Stars.'
Pasha Pashkov and Daniella Karagach couldn't be happier about getting the opportunity to live out their dreams on Dancing With the Stars!
Just hours after performing during the dance competition show's Disney Night, the real-life couple stopped by ET Live to discuss all the most memorable moments from week five, along with what life has been like as the "new pros" of season 28.
Daniella and Pasha have numerous ballroom titles under their belt, competing (and winning!) championships all over the world over the past few years, including the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival. But fans really got to know the lovebirds when they appeared together on season two of World of Dance, the dance show executive produced by Jennifer Lopez.
Thoroughly impressed by their performances, judge Derek Hough later asked Daniella to join him on his summer tour. But the six-time mirrorball champion actually had nothing to do with Daniella and Pasha's casting on Dancing With the Stars, the couple revealed.
"Honestly, we didn't tell anyone [at first]. Because we didn't know ourselves if we were on the show or not," Daniella recalled. "We found out very last second and we didn't want to tell anyone that we even auditioned, because you never know how it's going to go."
"We kind of kept it our little secret. When it happened, it happened so fast. I feel like everyone found out while we were on the show," she added of the cast announcement being revealed live on Good Morning America last month. "And the support since has been through the roof. Even from Derek, when he found out, and Mark Ballas. They were just so happy for us."
In case you missed Monday night's show, Pasha and his celeb partner, The Office star Kate Flannery, danced a Mary Poppins-themed jazz to "Spoonful of Sugar." The performance received 8s across the board from judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, and seemed to be a fan favorite among viewers who were live-tweeting their reactions throughout the show.
"To be honest with you, I thought that week one, the premiere, was going to be the most exciting one for me because it was my first one on the show," Pasha confessed. "But this one beats it! I grew up watching Disney and I was, truly, very excited to perform. The whole week was magical."
Magical, indeed! Although producers didn't pair Daniella with a celebrity partner this season, she got her own shining moment during Monday's show -- perfectly channeling Princess Elsa as she danced to "Into the Unknown" from Frozen II. Getting the opportunity to perform something outside of her "comfort zone" was a moment the professional ballroom dancer said she'll never forget.
"I'm just super grateful that they trusted me with this huge role," she gushed. "I was so fortunate to work with some of the best choreographers. The choreography brought out a different side of me that I loved showing people."
"Everyone knows me as a ballroom dancer, but no one really sees me do jazz or contemporary," she added. "So this was a chance for me to really do my best at just portraying Elsa. I felt like I was really able to put my heart into it. It was an amazing feeling."
Speaking of feelings, Daniella will never live down the moment she first met Pasha's partner. Because the two are such huge fans of The Office, we had to ask who was the most starstruck when meeting Kate for the first time.
"For sure, me. This is the best story ever!" Daniella exclaimed. "We're sitting in our hotel room and we're about to do the meet and greet for Dancing With the Stars. At this point, we don't know who is going to be on the show this season, we don't really know who's paired up with anyone. So [before] the meet and greet, we're watching our favorite show [The Office] and I don't remember which episode it was, it might have been the one where Jim [John Krasinski] proposes to Pam [Jenna Fischer] or something like that. We're sitting and watching and I'm like, 'Pasha, I just really want to watch this show right now. Can we go a little later?' And he's like, 'No, let's go, we'll finish watching it later.'"
Daniella continued on, telling ET that Sasha Farber (aka DWTS' resident prankster!) was the one who broke the news about Kate's casting to them.
"So we go downstairs and I'm talking to Sasha Farber. He looks at me and he goes, 'Meredith is right behind you.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about it? What do you mean Meredith's behind me?'" she recalled. "He says, 'Meredith is standing right there behind you. Turn around.' I turn around and I look at her and I'm like, 'Oh my god. What do I do? I don't how to act.' So I'm like, 'OK, I don't care what's going to happen. I'm just going to go and fangirl right to her at that moment.' But she was really great with that."
When they're not watching The Office or competing on Dancing With the Stars, Pasha and Daniella tell ET that they're usually still dancing... right at home in the living room they share!
"We [create] in the living room, that's where we do all our choreography," Pasha revealed, with Daniella adding, "One hundred percent, that's where our best choreography comes from."
The married couple also revealed how they manage to balance their personal and professional lives, and how they do it when they're together 24/7.
"We live together, we eat together, we teach together, travel, everything," Pasha shared. "I think the only way you can do it is if you truly love each other and you're very comfortable. I like my personal space, Daniella likes her personal space, and the thing is, we give each other that space. Even though we're together all the time, we're never tired of each other."
"We're so blessed that we get to share all these experiences together," he continued. "We visit different countries, we're on the show, we get to create."
Daniella added, "And the fact that we can do the show together is just a dream come true."
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. In the meantime, hear more highlights from Disney Night in the video below!
RELATED CONTENT:
