Ezra Sosa Says He and Dancing with the Stars Partner Anna Delvey Are Still ‘Texting Every Day’ After Their Elimination (Exclusive)

Ezra Sosa and Anna Delvey may have left the dance floor, but their friendship is still going strong.

While attending the DirecTV Gets Real party hosted by DirecTV, PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly on Sept. 26, Sosa — who was partnered with Delvey for season 33 of Dancing with the Stars — told PEOPLE the pair have stayed in touch since they were eliminated from the reality competition show during the second episode on Sept. 24.

“We’re texting every day,” he says. “Yes, we are. She’s like, ‘You have to come to New York!’ And I was like, ‘Do you miss me?’ She goes, ‘Sure.’ But every single time she says sure it means yes. Like, I kind of have her down a little bit.”

Sosa, 23, who was promoted to pro dancer this season, also addressed Delvey’s rather blunt response to their elimination from the show. When asked by host Julianne Hough what she was taking from her experience on the show, the convicted con artist, 33, gave a one-word reply: “Nothing.”

At the time, Sosa appeared shocked by her response, raising his eyebrows in surprise. But the dancer told PEOPLE he thinks Delvey’s reaction was actually “iconic.” He recalled that he could tell in the moment that his dance partner was “livid” when they were not announced as being “safe” from elimination.

“So when we’re walking right next to Julianne, she asked her that question, I was — I’m not going to lie — I was a little nervous what she was going to say,” he remembers. “But with what she said, I think it was very iconic.”

Sosa said he is “really happy with how [Delvey] ended [her run on the show]” because she stayed true to herself. “With me being her partner on the show, I wanted her to show different sides of herself to America, but also I don’t want her to ever change who she is, because I really think she’s so brilliant and everything,” he explains. 

As he reflected on the pair’s experience on DWTS together, Sosa said he is grateful for all of the support they received from both the fans and show producers and that it was Delvey who was by his side for his first season as a pro.

“I felt like I was in great hands and getting to dance with Anna and letting her open up to me, and showing a different side of herself to me, I feel so grateful that she even felt that comfortable around me,” he tells PEOPLE. “Yeah, I’m just so happy that she was my first partner. Honestly, truly.”

Now that he is simply a spectator watching from the sidelines, Sosa says he is rooting for former Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and pro Jenna Johnson to take home the Mirrorball Trophy. “I just ran into them, and that’s the first thing that came to my head,” he jokes.

Dancing with the Stars season 33 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with the episode available to stream the next day on Hulu.