After eleven weeks of competition, Tik Tok star Charli D’Amelio was the one to take home the Mirror Ball trophy at the end of Dancing with the Stars season 31.
The four teams competing in the finals included D’Amelio and her partner Mark Ballas, Wayne Brady and Witney Carson, Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy and Shangela and Gleb Savchenko.
Both D’Amelio and Windey ended the night with perfect scores in their redemption dances and their freestyle dances while Shangela and Brady landed a score of 36 in their redemption dances and 40s in their freestyle dances.
D’Amelio had been the frontrunner since the start, never straying from the top of the leaderboard throughout the competition. D’Amelio, who became famous on Tik Tok for her viral dances, arrived on the show with more dance experience than anyone else.
While Brady and Carson were always right behind D’Amelio and Ballas from the start of the season, they were never able to secure the lead from the talented Tik Toker and in the end D'Amelio was the one to take home the crown. Or, in this case, the Mirror Ball.
Big moments in the Dancing with the Stars season 31 finale
And in another major moment on the show, Shangela, a drag queen herself, was joined in her freestyle dance by her partner, Gleb, who danced in drag as well. Gleb proudly introduced his alter ego, Natasha, to the world.
Former contestant Selma Blair returned to the ballroom with her partner Sasha Farber, and they performed a breathtaking routine to “No Air,” which was performed by fellow former contestant Jordin Sparks.
In addition to crowning a champion, it was a bittersweet moment as fans bid adieu to original judge Len Goodman, who announced earlier in the competition that this would be his final season on the show. Goodman was the original Dancing with the Stars judge and he also served as an original judge on the UK’s hit Strictly Come Dancing. He plans on staying close to the UK so that he can be with his family.
The finale also marked the end of the road for original professional dancer Cheryl Burke, who announced her retirement from the series. She performed a farewell routine and said that she hopes to return to the series as a judge in the future.
You can catch up on Dancing with the Stars season 31 on Disney Plus.
