Daniella Karagach is concerned with how certain Dancing With the Stars fans have interacted with her and husband Pasha Pashkov‘s daughter in public.
Professional dancer and choreographer Karagach, 32, took to Instagram on Friday, March 7, to issue a statement while on the Dancing With the Stars tour, saying, “I really didn’t want to do this post but I feel like I have to for my safety and my child’s safety.”
While on the road, Karagach noticed some concerning behavior toward her 22-month-old daughter, Nikita.
“If you see us with our child, it is always OK to say hi. We love saying hi to you,” she noted. “But if you see that she’s not with us and with my mother-in-law, please do not hunt her down and ask her for photos or take photos of her without my mother-in-law’s knowledge.”
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Karagach detailed specific incidents in recent weeks, adding, “It is just not appropriate and we have had some crazy situations happen to us here at Biloxi [Mississippi] where people will hunt us down. They wait for us.”
She continued: “It is becoming more of us eating with food in our mouth and people are asking for photos in that moment when we are trying to have a family dinner. … Just know we want to have a little second of privacy. But the main reason for this post is please do not take photos or videos of our baby girl without our knowledge or when she isn’t with us.”
This isn’t the first time a DWTS pro has made a request for more privacy for their child. Jenna Johnson, who shares 2-year-old son Rome with husband Val Chmerkovskiy, went through a similar experience on the Dancing With the Stars tour last year.
“Today was an incredible show here in Verona, New York. The audience was next-level rowdy and we loved it. Couldn’t think of a better way to have ended our week of shows and we all deserve a much-needed day off tomorrow,” Johnson, 30, said via Instagram Story in January 2024 before detailing a disturbing incident. “Something happened today and for the remainder of the tour that myself and my family are on, I would really love some respect and privacy when it comes to my son. Today we had a little incident where he and my nanny were followed onto the elevator of the hotel that we’re staying at.”
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Johnson said her son and his nanny were “followed onto the floor that our room was on.”
“Then the fans were giggling, and had their phones out, and my nanny felt very uncomfortable and unsafe,” she noted. “Please just respect our privacy. For me, as his mom, that’s really dangerous and I really don’t appreciate that.”
Johnson urged DWTS viewers to be more considerate. “I love the excitement towards our family, but he’s just a baby so please, please respect that. Thank you all in advance for understanding that,” she concluded. “I love you guys so much, I’m so happy to be back on the road. It’s been a dream come true to do this, and to do it with my family. But yeah, just some boundaries would be really, really awesome. Love you guys.”
