Warning: This article contains spoilers for Dancing With the Stars season 33, episode 10, “Finale”
A new Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy winner has been crowned!
After a super-sized Dancing With the Stars finale that saw the most finalists ever competing to win this season, Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson took home the Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy. Joey is the first male Bachelor contestant to make it to the semi-finals, much less to win the top prize. It also marks pro Jenna Johnson’s first time winning the Mirrorball.
But before the winners were crowned, the dancers had to face off against each other one last time, competing in two rounds of dancing. First, they performed a redemption dance of one of their routines from earlier in the season, coached by one of the three judges. Then, they each got the opportunity to deliver a freestyle dance, showcasing their special skills that are perhaps outside the general boundaries of ballroom style.
Plenty more dancing was featured, including an opening number to Madonna’s “Holiday” performed by the DWTS troupe, and featuring appearances from all of the season’s couples, as well as a special segment that brought co-hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro back on to the ballroom floor. Other performances included a Mandy Moore-choreographed number to Troye Sivan’s “Rush” from the dancers joining the professional tour, and best of all, an Argentine tango from former pros Mark Ballas and Derek Hough to Tango Bardo’s “Libertango.”
In keeping with DWTS tradition, the season 32 champion, Xochitl Gomez, returned to dance with her pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”
But let’s get into the competition.
Olympic bronze medalist Stephen and his partner Rylee kicked off the show (after 30 minutes of recap packages, boooo) with a quickstep, a redemption for their number on Soul Train night. They danced to The Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There For You,” aka the Friends theme song (a track that should’ve gone to Chandler or Joey, duh). Stephen has struggled with his timing all season, but never more than in the quickstep. But he earned raves from the judges for his redemption dance, with them saying it was his best performance yet. The couple came close to a perfect score with a total of 29 points for the routine.
For their freestyle dance, Stephen brought along fellow members of his gymnastics team to showcase his incredible strength and gymnastic skills (and, of course, his pommel horse made an appearance). The number earned the couple their first perfect score of the season, bringing their total to 59 points.
Next up were Bachelor alum Joey and Jenna with a redemption cha-cha, which Derek hoped would give Joey a chance to bring more precision to his footwork. Derek praised the duo for the high difficulty level of their routine, while Bruno Tonioli told them that they dance like two pros. They earned the first perfect score of 30 of the night, keeping them in close contention for the Mirrorball trophy.
For Joey’s freestyle dance, he turned back to his roots as a tennis pro and teacher, emphasizing the sport throughout his routine, even using a tennis racket as a prop. While Carrie Ann Inaba found the number a bit underwhelming, Bruno and Derek praised its originality. Ultimately, they nabbed a score of 29, bringing their score to 59 points.
Former NFL player Danny and Witney were assigned a redemption tango by Derek, taking things all the way back to week 1 of the competition. It marked a particular challenge for the duo, since Danny and Witney’s strong suit is their lifts, and there are no lifts in a tango. Carrie Ann praised Danny for showing the most transformation of all the men competing this year. Still, they nabbed the lowest score thus far, only earning a 27 from the judges.
For their freestyle, Danny and Witney paid tribute to Barbie, with Amendola dressing up as Ryan Gosling‘s Ken. “You turned football Ken into dancing Ken,” he told Witney. Derek called the routine “one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever seen on this show.” They landed a 29 for the number, bringing their finale total to 56.
There was no question that Olympian Ilona and partner Alan would take another shot at the jive after their previous jive performance on Hair Metal night ended with Ilona in tears. The duo earned praise for injecting far more “fun” into this routine, declaring it a true redemption dance. Ilona and Alan tied with Danny and Witney with their initial score of 27.
Ilona dedicated her freestyle to all the girls inspired by her on the show, particularly all those who’ve been told they’re too big or too muscular. She walked through a locker room, reminiscing about her time on the show, before having her sweatsuit torn away and bringing the heat to the ballroom (the number featured multiple costume changes). Ilona and Alan became the second couple of the night to nab their first perfect score of the competition, bringing their finale total to 57.
Chandler and Brandon topped the leaderboard throughout the season, but they still had some dances in need of redemption — Carrie Ann chose the jive, which they originally danced on Hair Metal night. While Carrie Ann noted that Chandler had the hardest season of all the contestants, their jive earned raves across the board and nabbed them yet another perfect score of 30.
Chandler and Brandon celebrated the fact that they’re the first Black couple to make it to the finale with a freestyle dance dedicated to the Black dancers who paved the way throughout history, including the Nicholas Brothers, the stars of disco, and the trailblazers of hip-hop and breakdancing. Carrie Ann celebrated the historical meaning and impact of their dance, praising them for using their platform in this way. They earned another 30, making them the only couple to get a perfect score for both their finale dances with a total of 60 points.
DWTS season 33, episode 10 scores
Here’s where each couple landed on the leaderboard (after two rounds of dancing):
Chandler & Brandon – Jive + Freestyle, 60 points
Joey & Jenna – Cha-cha + Freestyle, 59 points
Ilona & Alan – Jive + Freestyle, 57 points
Danny & Witney – Tango + Freestyle, 56 points
Stephen & Rylee – Quickstep + Freestyle, 59 points
That’s it for season 33, folks! Check out the DWTS live tour in the new year and gear up for season 34 next fall.