Daniella Karagach Changed ‘Pretty Much Everything’ for 1st ‘DWTS’ Routine Due to Dwight Howard’s Height (Exclusive)

Dancing With the Stars pro Daniella Karagach and her season 33 partner, Dwight Howard, have some differences to overcome this season — height differences, that is.

Karagach, 31, is 5-foot-3, while Howard, 38, stands at a staggering 6-foot-10. With more than 1.5 feet between them, the duo faced some challenges when rehearsing for their first dance of the competition.

“We started rehearsing late, and I had choreography planned out. And when we came into the studio for the first time to actually start rehearsals, I realized I had to switch up pretty much my whole choreography because I couldn’t make it around [him],” Karagach exclusively told Us Weekly after the Tuesday, September 17, premiere. “He was so tall, I couldn’t get around him. … So, I had to change up pretty much everything. It was crazy.”

Howard is not the first basketball player that Karagach has entered the ballroom with. She won her first mirrorball trophy alongside NBA alum Iman Shumpert during season 30 of DWTS in 2021. Karagach told Us that her success with Shumpert, 34, who is 6-foot-5, doesn’t mean she feels pressure to win again with Howard.

“[They’re] two different people,” she explained. “First of all, this guy is way taller. So, it’s a very different challenge, but he’s a completely different person. So, no expectations.”

While Karagach isn’t expecting a victory just because she’s paired with an athlete, she and Howard impressed the judges during their first dance of the season, a salsa to “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan. The twosome earned the second-highest score of the night after Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong and were one of only two couples to receive an eight.

“It’s like watching a giraffe and a gazelle dance together,” judge Derek Hough quipped after the performance.

Howard told Us that it was ”rewarding” to see his and Karagach’s hard work reflected in their scores, but you won’t catch him resting on his laurels.

“This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate and say, ‘Hey, this is what we have to do every week to win and keep moving forward,’” he said. “We don’t want to get stuck in it. We want to keep moving. Celebrate tonight, and tomorrow, it’s time to work.”

No one would doubt Howard’s work ethic glancing at his NBA resume, which includes a championship win and three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He currently plays for the Taiwan Mustangs of the Asian Tournament but previously lent his talents to the NBA’s Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.

Howard told Us that practicing for DWTS is “similar” to basketball training in some ways, but he noted that dancing requires “working so many more muscles.”

“It’s a lot of repetition but it’s a lot of fun. Every little step [of] the routine, you’re trying to get perfection,” he said before going on to praise Karagach. “When she does it, it’s perfect. Every little stance, it’s perfect. Down to her fingernails, they’re perfect. It’s just crazy to see. I love it.”

Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream episodes on Disney+ the next day.

With reporting by Carly Konsker