There’s a new Dancing With the Stars frontrunner in our midst! Iman Shumpert and DWTS pro Daniella Karagach took things in the ballroom to a whole new level with their Us-inspired contemporary performance on Horror Night. Iman effortlessly tossed, carried, and balanced Daniella in a series of lifts that will go down in DWTS history. Even though the lifts were scary, Daniella has never been afraid Iman will drop her.
“He will never let me fall, no matter what! Never will let me fall,” Daniella told reporters, including HollywoodLife, after the show. Iman added, “The lifts… I got her.”
Daniella has all the faith in Iman as a dancing partner. “I trust him with my life,” Daniella said. Iman followed with, “She knows if she was about to fall that I got her! We will figure it out.”
Iman and Daniella’s performance earned them a perfect score of all 10s from the judges. This marked their highest score of the season and made them the second couple to achieve a perfect score. “My mind was blown!” Carrie Ann Inaba declared. “It was sheer perfection.”
After their fantastic performance, Daniella penned a special message to Iman on Instagram. “It’s one hell of a task to ask a celeb who’s never danced before to learn a contemporary and teach him all the moves… But for @imanshumpert to learn the dance, commit to the movement, listen to instruction, perform barefoot after all his body has been through in his career and perform the dance effortlessly and in character is a whole nother level. Im so lucky to have you as a partner Shump,” she wrote.
She continued, “Thank you for inspiring me and making my job as your coach one that is always exciting and joyful. Every rehearsal with you is a laugh till we cry but get sh*t done kinda day. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner. I’m so so proud of you.”
Days before Iman’s stellar performance, HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with his wife, Teyana Taylor. She admitted that she’s “not surprised” at all that he’s been doing well on the show.
“He’s been on about 15 tours with me. He’s my DJ, he’s my backup dancer behind closed doors, you know? I think something like this was only right to happen. I’m super excited,” Teyana told HollywoodLife at Mohegan Sun’s anniversary party at TAO Mohegan Sun. Dancing With the Stars season 30 airs Mondays on ABC.