Ezra Sosa completed his third season as a Dancing With the Stars professional dancer last Tuesday. He and Julia Stiles were eliminated from season 35, but Sosa is more than content with how things played out.
“I feel very content with my season with Julia,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m just gonna miss her.”
Sosa joined the DWTS pro cast two years ago when he was partnered with Anna Delvey, and infamously was eliminated first from the show’s 33rd season. From there, he partnered with Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles and finished in third place during last year’s season 34.
Sosa is a star on-and-off the ballroom floor, being regarded as one of the first pros to reintroduce the online audience to DWTS alongside Rylee Arnold. Now, after capping off his third season with movie star Stiles, Sosa has more than an understanding on what it takes to be a pro; he embodies the essence of what it means to be a DWTS professional dancer, possessing the dance skills and social media savviness needed to lead the show.
Below, Sosa exclusively chats with THR after he and Stiles’ season 35 elimination, breaks down how their 10 Things I Hate About You cast reunion came about, how he manages the growing fan criticism about the show, and who he’s rooting for the win the Len Goodman mirrorball trophy.
What have the past few days been like for you post elimination?
It’s very interesting, because I’m a very single girly, so I feel like the only relationships I do defer to are the ones that I’ve maintained throughout the show. The day after [being eliminated] just feels like a breakup. That’s literally the only way to describe it.
I feel very content with my season with Julia. Like, yes, we could have made it farther, but also, we had such strong moments. I’m just gonna miss her. I feel like that first day [after being eliminated,] we got our tattoos, we said our goodbyes. It was a very bittersweet day, but also was a nice day to reflect on the whole season.
Now, after each season, you have this tradition of getting a tattoo. Why is it important for you to continue that tradition?
I feel like it just happened to become a tradition. I feel like with Anna Delvey, I wanted to have fun with the bit, and with Jordan [Chiles], she already has tattoos, so I feel like it was a comment, “OK, let’s get tattoos.” And the same with Julia, but actually Julia wanted to do it because she is a fan of the show and a fan of mine, so I feel like it was part of her dream inspo to be on Dancing With the Stars and get matching tattoos with me. I feel like that’s really cool to even say and do.
I also feel like it’s a great way to find closure within your season, but also have something to remember the season. I’m very passionate about every single season I’ve been on as a pro, so for me, it’s a way to be proud of the work that I did.
You penned such a beautiful tribute in honor of Julia. Can you open up about what was different about this season with Julia?
Julia is a class act. I’ve never met someone with such star power like Julia. She still is a superstar, but at the height of her career, that was a time in Hollywood that wasn’t on social media, so it was very interesting to collaborate with her on so many different things, including social media. It really was so special.
This is your third season on the show, but you have really tapped into the professional part of the word “professional dancer”. What has it been like growing as a pro these past three seasons? It feels like you have a nail on what it means to be a pro dancer in the new era of Dancing With the Stars.
Well, thank you so much. That means a lot. For me, it’s ultimately about catering the best experience for your partner. Throughout every partnership I’ve had, I’ve also adapted and changed because I am a person that’s constantly learning and growing. With every single partner — and I mean every partner I’ve had — I’ve taken little life lessons that have adjusted the way I look at life, the way I look at dance, and I think that’s a beautiful part of being a reoccurring thing on Dancing With the Stars.
I never want to be the same person every single season, so it’s cool to see how I went from unhinged Anna to completely 180 with Julia, giving all this nostalgia in the world. With Julia, she taught me so, so much about, I mean, professionalism is a light way to say it, but she is a true professional.
Can you clarify; were you part-time living in New York and flying back-and-forth for the shows in L.A.?
Yeah, so it depends on the week. Some weeks we had to be in L.A., like the group dance, we obviously wanted to be here. I loved the fact that Julia just wanted to be with her kids and family [in New York]. I feel like that was a really big thing for her to do the show. I feel like she kind of felt bad for me to be flying back and forth, but I told her, “Whatever is going to give you more ease every single day, I will gladly bend my back for you,” because again, it’s all about their experience on the show.
That had to have been a huge part of the season for you guys, going back and forth and having to travel. Why do you think that wasn’t highlighted on the show? Because fans online [somewhat] knew, but it wasn’t really showcased in your story on the show.
(Laughs.) I’m honestly not sure. I don’t really know what production, like what their motives are. But I definitely feel like when it came to those weeks [when we were traveling] for us specifically, Julia and I, it was more important to talk about the intention of the dance or what we wanted to talk about in our package that week. And majority of times, it didn’t really necessarily come to us [talking about] traveling back and forth.
You choreographed two numbers this season that honored these two major movies. What was that experience like choreographing those numbers in honor of these movies?
A moment I’ll never forget is at the end of her dedication performance, just seeing her reunited with the 10 Things I Hate About You cast. I remember sitting there, full body chills, and just thinking to myself, Oh, this is for sure my peak. There’s nothing that can top this. But even for someone like me who was a huge fan of those movies, it was so important to have so much care behind those two pieces. Ultimately, they became some of my favorite routines that I’ll ever have the chance to perform on Dancing With the Stars, and in general. It’s really cool to be a part of something that I think the ballroom will never forget for years to come.
Whose idea was that to do the 10 Things I Hate About You cast reunion? Was it you? Was it Julia? Was production?
It was Julia. Production opened up Dedication Night so the person [being paid tribute in the dance] could have been passed. It was really important to us to do this dedication performance, not just to Heath, but to that time of her life and filming 10 Things I Hate About You, but we had to think of a person that kind of tied it in. And they’re like, “Were there writers?” I’m looking at her, I was like, “Was there someone in the cast?” She goes, “It has to be the whole cast.” And from there, she started working. She started reaching out to everybody, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt said yes. After that, everyone kind of fell into place.
Are you able to share what song you would have performed to for Grammy night?
It was going to be an Adele song. We were very excited about it because she notoriously doesn’t really clear much [of her music for usage], so it was truly an honor for us to get that clearance. The rumba would have been such a beautiful routine, but you know, just wasn’t in the cards for us. And I’m sure everything happens for a reason.
What do you think was your favorite number you and Julia performed?
It’s hard just to pick one, but I think personally, the “Jenny from the Block” routine was such a fun routine, such a great way to get Julia accustomed to the ballroom. But also, like, should there have been jazz in that routine? Absolutely, but [it was fun] just to do something for the millennials. Like, the intention of it wasn’t necessarily for the ballroom, it was like a love letter for all the millennials. That was a really fun idea to come up with. We were originally supposed to do another style that week, and we were gonna reference her movie Save the Last Dance that week.
There’s just so many eyes on DWTS right now, and with that comes a lot of criticisms and conversations about the show. Is there any conversation in particular that has been sparked this season that has particularly stood out to you?
I definitely feel like everyone loves their opinions on Dancing With the Stars, and we, of course, being a public show, wed allow it and we love it, and we love hearing the audiences’ reactions to the show. But there has been a part of the season that kind of felt a little bit heavier, and maybe it’s because the pros are too lethal at their jobs. I feel like the expectation when it comes to delivering these numbers is just extra high, and that pressure was definitely felt this season amongst everyone in the cast.
But in a weird way, when it came to all the outside noise, and this is, I feel like, the silver lining between it all, it brought us closer together behind the scenes. I can confidently say we have not been this close. All the pros have rehearsals at seven in the morning, and you think seven in the morning with your coworkers is your biggest nightmare, but it is genuinely one thing that I look forward to every single week. We all just get to recap our weeks, and there’s no other person that can relate to what we go through than each other.
So I feel like yes, the outside noise has been a little bit louder, and it has their opinions, and yes, those things are very hard for us to deal with because it is a stress that all of us go through on the show. It’s kind of beautiful to see how it genuinely did bring us all together.
How early do you start preparation for tour?
Actually, pretty early. I think we have 10 days off between season [35] ends and the tour [prep] starts. It’s very important to make sure when we go out there on the road, the show is absolutely spectacular. So our rehearsal process is a pretty long process, but I also think it’s long so it’s less harder on our bodies. I’m really excited for tour. It’s gonna be so awesome. All arenas, Madison Square Garden, sold out.
Now that you are eliminated, who are you rooting for to win the mirrorball?
It’s no shade to the male celebrities on the show because they’re absolutely great; I’m a queen, so I’m gonna be supporting my girls. I feel like being in the group dance with Tatyana [Ali], Amber [Glenn] and Maura [Higgins] — and obviously, we felt like this [reaches arm out] with Jenna Dewan, like, You’re with us! You’re with the girlies! — it was nice to see all of them bond together and have shared, similar experiences on the show. After that, I’m like, girl, I’m rooting for you all. I’m rooting for all my girlies, but I still have much love for the male celebrities on the show.
Season 35 of DWTS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m., simulcasting across ABC and Disney+, and streaming the next day on Hulu. Read all of THR‘s DWTS coverage here.
