COUPLE KNEW ACROBAT DAUGHTER WAS MEANT TO BE IN THE CIRCUS AT AGE FIVE

PEOPLE

 

Couple Realized Their Daughter Was 'Born to Be in the Circus' at 5. Now, They Shock Millions with Their Routines (Exclusive)

By Zoey Lyttle  Published on January 15, 2026 06:00AM EST

 

Ilya Kotenyov, his wife Regina and their three kids have taken TikTok by storm as the Wow Family Circus. They've stunned over 1 million followers with their acrobatics and aerial stunts, garnering an astonishing total of over 400 million views on their top three posts.

 

It's not all for views and online attention, though. The Kazakhstani family unit really does support each other just as well as the silk scarves and ties that suspend them as they perform mind-boggling, body-bending tricks. The younger troupe members — son Tagir, 11, and daughters Zara, 8, and Iliana, 6 — inherited their talents from their lifelong acrobat parents.

 

"I did acrobatics from age 6, and when I was 17, I did audition for Cirque du Soleil," Ilya tells PEOPLE. He moved to Montreal to train with the famed show, where he learned a variety of circus acts. Regina came up performing in an acrobatic trio, though some of their most viral tricks were perfected later in their lives.

 

Their repertoire of stunts includes an "iron jaw kiss," which sees Ilya hanging from bands as Regina poses in midair below him, seemingly suspended above ground only by linked mouths. They certainly earn their "Wow Family" name with a hair-hanging trick perfected by Zara, who appears to execute it flawlessly, without any struggle.

 

However, Ilya says that it's far from an easy trick; in fact, hanging from just a ponytail is quite painful for the acrobat, even when it's set up perfectly.

 

"My wife, when she was trying to hang for the first time for one month, she was crying every practice," he explains. It's not that Regina isn't capable of hair hanging, Ilya notes, but more so that Zara is extraordinarily composed.

 

"When Zara tried [for the] first time in [the] first practice, she was already hanging. Her first time, and she didn't cry. She doesn't cry at all because she can be patient," the proud father explains. "It's just in her blood, maybe. I don't know how it's possible."

 

The parents noticed Zara's impressive skills several years ago, when she was about five years old. Ilya and Regina were performing in Kazakhstan, and they decided to see if Zara could join her mother for a few tricks in the show. They didn't know if she would be able to combine the stunts with the choreography, but the young girl defied all expectations.

 

"When she [first] started to be on that stage, that was it. We saw that she was born to be in the circus. It's her," Ilya tells PEOPLE of Zara. "She did everything perfectly. All the moves, all the choreography, all the positions. She knows everything."

 

This past summer, Ilya and Regina toured together in Switzerland, though their kids were not able to join them in the show for legal reasons. However, the trio of siblings has spent months refining their routines, and Zara plans to join her parents for their next stint on stage. Ilya says she is training to do solo tricks on aerial straps, which will mark a major step forward in her performance career.

 

Between Zara, her similarly talented younger sister and their older brother Tagir, who mainly focuses on his own sport acrobatics training, Ilya says he and Regina felt particularly compelled to start posting online about their amazing children.

 

"We just wanted to share for all the world that the kids don't have a limit," he explains. "The kids can do everything. Sometimes they're [smarter] and more professional than the adults."

 

Ilya continues, "Of course, these are our kids, and we're so proud of them, but this is not the point. We just want to show that everyone can do everything — [it] doesn't matter your size, your age, your skin, your nationality. It doesn't matter."