Daniel Durant Says His Adoptive Moms Saved Him from His Birth Parents
Photo by: ABC/Eric McCandless Reading Time: 3 minutes
In a recent appearance on Tamron Hall Show, Daniel Durant shared that his biological parents left him when he was a baby. This consequently led him to be adopted by his now mothers who supported him in the pursuit of his dreams.
Daniel Durant is Thankful for His Two Moms
Apparently, Durant’s biological parents failed to take care of him as a baby. His father had problems dealing with alcohol while his mother was addicted to drugs. Subsequently, his mother gave him up to a friend who later found his paternal aunt, Lori Durant. She was later married to Mary Engels, and that started Durant’s three-member family.
“I’m so thankful to them, they adopted me and they saved me from this family,” he said using American Sign Language (ASL). “I got to escape the situation so I’m so thankful to my mom.”
Even as a nine-year-old, Durant already knew that he wanted to act. Other parents would neglect their deaf child’s ambitions, knowing that the entertainment industry often requires an entirely able body. But Durant’s adoptive moms were different, and they backed him up since the beginning until today. Hence, he feels lucky to have two encouraging mothers.
In the interview, Tamron Hall Show took the opportunity to surprise Durant and play a video message from his moms. Both used sign language to directly connect with him.
“Daniel, know that we continue to be amazed at your passion and your courage to show the world that being deaf does not define who you are or limit what you can accomplish,” Lori Durant said.
Engels then proceeded to say that they’re proud to witness Durant’s incredible journey. They finished the video saying that his entire family loves him.
He Says Britt Stewart is a “Wonderful Teacher”
Durant’s DWTS partner, Britt Stewart, also appeared on the show. In the middle of the interview, Durant credited Stewart for her “very clear and concise” way of teaching. According to him, he has never done anything as intense as ballroom dancing before, but he enjoys learning every week. He went on to describe his partner as a “wonderful teacher.”
“I like to be a balanced coach. So I nurture, but then I get tough when I have to. So we are working on footwork and details,” Stewart said.
Timing is a difficult aspect to work on for the two because of Durant’s disability, but the dancing couple is eager to secure the Mirrorball. Thus, they try hard to be specific in terms of musicality of their dances.
Durant and Stewart are set to fire up the ballroom on Dancing With The Stars ‘90s night. The two will go up against Shangela and Gleb Savchenko in the Relay Dance competition. For their duo dance routine, they will do Jazz “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode.
