It’s official! Ezra Sosa has been announced as the newest professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars!
Having been a part of the DWTS universe as a troupe dancer since 2021, Sosa recently received the exciting news that he will be joining the team of professional dancers full-time. This means he’ll now have his own celebrity partner to train and guide in the ballroom.
Sosa sat down with GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos to discuss the news and more. “It hasn’t hit me yet,” Sosa shared about his promotion. “When I got the call, I was honestly in shock.” Achieving this goal has been a long-time dream for Sosa, and he admits it still feels surreal.
As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Sosa is thrilled to represent on the 33rd season of the iconic show. However, his journey hasn’t been without its challenges. “When I first joined the show, I had a huge sense of imposter syndrome because, at the time, I wasn’t out… It wasn’t until this year that I realized the power of being true to myself,” he explained. Sosa also expressed gratitude for the accepting and supportive environment he found in the Dancing with the Stars community, saying, “It was the first time I was in an environment where I truly felt accepted.”
Sosa credits pop star and dancer JoJo Siwa for giving him the courage to come out. “When I first met JoJo on the show, she knew I was in the closet, she knew I was gay, but she also knew how uncomfortable I was in my own skin,” Sosa revealed. He went on to share how his experience on tour with Siwa helped him grow, saying, “She would put makeup on my face, and I would be bawling in her arms because it made me so uncomfortable. But she was the person who started to introduce these things into my life, and it took a very long time.”
In addition to representing the LGBTQ+ community, Sosa is excited to bring Latin inclusion to the ballroom this season. “Growing up in Utah, I wasn’t really exposed to my culture, and my grandma always called me ‘gringa,’” he shared. “When I moved to L.A., I started going to salsa clubs, taking salsa classes, and I really just understood how amazing it is to be Hispanic and how much extra rhythm I got in these hips.