We have a winner!
After one of the closest final rounds ever, season 22 of Dancing with the Stars has named its champion, and that mirrorball trophy could not have gone to a more deserving dancer.
Congratulations to…Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd!
The deaf America’s Next Top Model winner spent all season pulling off emotional performances and changing ideas of dance all over the world, and now he’s got the trophy and the title to show for it.
MMA fighter Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas took second place, while ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy took third place in the competition.
Before the results could be determined, the final three contestants still had to perform for the judges one last time with a routine fusing together multiple dance styles that they only had 24 hours to put together. Perfect scores went to Nyle and Peta for their cha cha/tango and Paige and Mark for their jive/salsa, while Ginger and Val scored a 27 with their foxtrot/Argentine Tango.
Those scores combined with their scores from the past two weeks and America’s votes to decide the winner.
Of course, tonight wasn’t all about competition. The first hour and a half of the show featured performances new and old from all of this season’s dancers and a few special guests, including Fifth Harmony, Pitbull, Fleur East, Dan & Shay, and Aloe Blacc. We didn’t pay very close attention to any of them.
Most of this season’s contestants hit the dance floor one last time for an encore of one of their best performance from the season, including Wanya and Lindsay’s Charleston, Antonio and Sharna’s Aladdin routine, Ginger and Val’s Argentine Tango, and more.
While all three final dancers share the mirrorball trophy in our hearts, we’d like to wish Nyle congratulations and to say thank you for all of the tears you helped us shed all season long.
Dancing with the Stars will return in the fall for season 23.
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