Zelensky’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Ukraine clip from 2006 goes viral
In addition to his political career and leadership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is receiving praise from many on social media for his entertainment past.
A resurfaced montage of Zelensky being nimble on his feet and his winning ballets on the country’s version of “Dancing with the Stars” from 2006 went viral on Monday.
Fans from Twitter to TikTok are fawning over Zelensky’s moves — including one number that saw him and his partner Olena Shoptenko donning full blindfolds as they mentally counted steps, hitting their marks with perfection.
“I actually fainted tho [sic],” one Tik Tok user captioned a clip of Zelensky and Shoptenko performing.
Celebration for Zelensky’s light-footedness came just days after British actor Hugh Bonneville, one of the stars of the “Paddington” franchise, made the revelation that the 44-year-old was the familiar voice behind the Peruvian Bear in the Ukrainian versions of “Paddington” and “Paddington 2.”
“Until today I had no idea who provided the voice of @paddingtonbear in Ukraine. Speaking for myself, thank you, President Zelenskiy. #PaddingtonBear,” he said in a tweet, alongside a video of Zelensky.
The news has since been confirmed by the film’s producer, StudioCanal, to The Hollywood Reporter.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, including Kyiv, last week in a decision the Russian authorities called a “special military operation.”
Other circulating images also show the founder of the Servant of the People political party on the frontline with many of his countrymen and women, and he has been lauded as a “true leader.”
Over 100 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded in more than four days of fighting, according to United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.