Adele Zaikman is having the biggest professional moment of her dance career, but her personal life has simultaneously become a source of growing curiosity among “Dancing with the Stars” fans.
The professional Latin dancer won the inaugural season of “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro” on August 31, 2026, securing a coveted position as a professional dancer on Season 35 of the ABC competition.
Her victory immediately introduced Zaikman to a much larger television audience.
It also generated questions about her relationship with Cătălin Caucă, the Romanian dancer who had been both her professional partner and boyfriend.
Recent developments indicate that the partnership has ended professionally, while social media changes have fueled reports that their romantic relationship has ended as well.
So, who is Adele Zaikman’s boyfriend, and what happened between her and Caucă?
Who Is Cătălin?
Cătălin Caucă is a Romanian professional dancer and instructor who has built his career in competitive ballroom dancing.
He has been based in California and specializes in Latin dance, the same competitive discipline that has defined much of Zaikman’s career.
Their shared profession initially brought them together.
Long before viewers knew Zaikman from “The Next Pro,” she had already established herself as an accomplished competitive dancer with appearances at prestigious international events.
Caucă eventually became part of that journey as her dance partner.
An Instagram Search
Their partnership reportedly began in an appropriately modern way.
Zaikman needed a new professional dance partner in 2025 and turned to social media.
She posted on Instagram in April 2025 announcing that she was searching for someone to compete alongside her.
Caucă responded to the opportunity.
The connection was professional at first. Their goal was to train and compete together, which requires considerable trust between two dancers.
Competitive Latin partners spend countless hours rehearsing, traveling and refining routines together.
For Zaikman and Caucă, that working relationship eventually developed into something more.
Romance Begins
After roughly two months of working together, the pair’s relationship reportedly became romantic.
They were now balancing two partnerships at once.
On the dance floor, they had to function as professional competitors. Away from it, they were navigating life as a couple.
That combination can create an unusually intense relationship.
Dance partners already need chemistry, communication and trust. Adding romance means the boundaries between professional disagreements and personal emotions can become increasingly difficult to maintain.
For a period, however, Zaikman and Caucă appeared comfortable sharing both sides of their relationship.
They featured each other on social media and developed an online presence around their dance partnership.
Adele’s Big Break
Everything changed professionally for Zaikman when she entered “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.”
The ABC spinoff assembled 12 dancers competing for an unusually valuable prize: a permanent position as a professional dancer on the main “Dancing with the Stars” series.
Zaikman quickly became one of the strongest contestants.
Her background in competitive Latin dance gave her impressive technical credentials, but the show demanded more than simply performing well herself.
Contestants had to demonstrate that they could choreograph, teach celebrities and create routines capable of entertaining a television audience.
Zaikman consistently impressed judges Mark Ballas and Shirley Ballas.
She never found herself in danger of elimination during the season.
Reaching The Final
Zaikman eventually reached the final three alongside AJ Pritchard and Selena Hamilton.
For the August 31 finale, each finalist was challenged to work with a former “Dancing with the Stars” celebrity contestant.
Zaikman was paired with “Catfish” star Nev Schulman, who had previously reached the DWTS final.
She first revisited samba before taking on a dramatic freestyle for the final performance.
The routine incorporated powerful paso doble elements and gave Zaikman an opportunity to demonstrate the intensity and precision that had become signatures of her dancing.
Guest judge Derek Hough was particularly impressed.
He told Zaikman that she would not merely fit into the existing DWTS professional lineup—she could elevate it.
She Wins
At the end of the finale, Selena Hamilton finished third.
AJ Pritchard was named runner-up.
That left Zaikman as the first-ever winner of “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.”
The victory guaranteed her a professional position on “Dancing with the Stars” Season 35.
Zaikman described the result as a celebration of the sacrifices she had made throughout her career and an “I made it” moment.
It was the type of breakthrough competitive dancers can spend years pursuing.
But while her professional future suddenly became clearer, questions were developing about her personal relationship.
Partnership Ends
Around the same period, Caucă publicly indicated that he and Zaikman were no longer continuing as professional dance partners.
That announcement was significant.
Their connection had originally started because they wanted to compete together, so ending the professional partnership removed the foundation that initially brought them into each other’s lives.
Fans then began noticing changes online.
Reports pointed to the pair no longer following each other on Instagram, while their joint social media presence stopped receiving the type of activity followers had previously seen.
Zaikman’s profile also appeared to contain fewer visible references to Caucă.
None of those actions alone proves why a relationship ended.
Together, however, they fueled widespread speculation that their romantic partnership had also come to an end.
Is Adele Single?
Based on the latest publicly reported developments, Zaikman appears to have moved on from her relationship with Caucă.
There has not been a detailed public explanation from Zaikman laying out exactly what happened between them.
That distinction matters.
Social media unfollows, deleted photographs and the end of a professional partnership can strongly suggest a breakup, but they do not provide reliable evidence about what privately caused it.
Unless either Zaikman or Caucă chooses to explain further, claims about arguments, betrayal or other specific reasons for the apparent split would simply be speculation.
For now, there is no publicly confirmed new boyfriend in Zaikman’s life.
Career Comes First
The timing means Zaikman has little opportunity to disappear from public view.
Winning “The Next Pro” immediately sends her into another demanding television commitment.
Season 35 of “Dancing with the Stars” begins September 15, 2026, with Zaikman joining the professional lineup.
It represents an enormous career transition.
Competitive ballroom dancing brought her international success, including recognition at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival, but DWTS introduces dancers to an entirely different level of mainstream fame.
She will now be judged not only on her own technique but on her ability to transform a celebrity partner into a convincing performer.
A New Chapter
For viewers searching for “Adele Zaikman boyfriend,” Cătălin Caucă remains the name most closely associated with her recent romantic life.
Their story began through dance.
Zaikman searched Instagram for a professional partner, Caucă entered the picture, and their working relationship eventually developed into a romance.
By September 2026, however, their professional partnership had ended and multiple public-facing changes pointed toward their romantic relationship being over as well.
Zaikman has not publicly introduced another boyfriend.
Instead, the biggest new relationship in her life is with “Dancing with the Stars.”
After winning the very competition created to find the show’s next professional dancer, she is entering Season 35 with considerably more attention than she had just months earlier.
Whatever happened privately between Zaikman and Caucă, her professional direction is unmistakable.
She arrived on “The Next Pro” hoping for an opportunity and left as its first champion—with a new television career waiting for her.
