Is Daniel Durant the First Deaf ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Celeb?
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Dancing With The Stars recently revealed their celebrity cast for season 31. One of the names included is a deaf actor Daniel Durant. His inclusion in the series has prompted the question, has a deaf celebrity ever competed on the series before?
DWTS will then become the first live show to debut on the streaming service Disney+. The show premieres on Disney+ on Monday, September 19.
Daniel Durant Joins Dancing With the Stars
Durant will be competing in this coming season of DWTS. Durant first made waves on the Freeform series Switched at Birth and later appeared in the award-winning film CODA. He will appear on DWTS alongside other stars like TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio and current Bachelorette Gabby Windey.
His professional partner is none other than Britt Stewart. In past seasons, Stewart’s partners have included Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir and Karate Kid actor Martin Kove. Both Durant and Stewart excitedly shared the news on social media.
The actor from Duluth, Minnesota was welcomed by family and friends after a CODA Oscar season tour. Durant was then spotted relaxing at the All Pints North festival in July but he has started rehearsing for DWTS.
Marlee Matlin is the First Deaf Celeb on DWTS
It’s possible that Daniel was inspired to join the show by one of his co stars, since fellow CODA star Marlee Matlin made history on the series. She was the first deaf celebrity to compete in DWTS in 2008. The DWTS alum showed her support for Daniel by surprising the actor by sending a video message.
Matlin told Daniel to have fun and to “make sure to tell the judges and the audience, to ‘read my hips.'”
Matlin also gave her costar encouraging words in the short video by signing. Aside from Matlin, deaf model Nyle DiMarco competed in season 22 and won.
