'Dancing with the Stars' season 32 finale: Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy take home the Mirrorball
Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy are the winners of "Dancing With the Stars" season 32.
Gomez and Chmerkovskiy took home the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy in the season 32 finale Tuesday night, the first finale in "DWTS" history to feature five couples. Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach came in second.
This is Chmerkovskiy's third time winning the Mirrorball trophy. He previously won with actress and singer Rumer Willis in 2015 and gymnast Laurie Hernandez in 2016.
Before the winners were announced, Gomez, along with Ariana Madix, Jason Mraz, Charity Lawson and Alyson Hannigan, hit the dance floor a final time with a redemption dance and a freestyle dance with their pro partners.
Read on to see how the night unfolded:
Redemption Round
The redemption round saw the finalists performing a previous dance, which was chosen by one of the judges.
Hannigan kicked off the round with a fun salsa number to “Get On Your Feet” by Gloria Estefan. She initially performed the dance during the first week with her pro partner, Sasha Farber.
Ahead of the competition portion of the show, judge Carrie Ann Inaba said Hannigan’s strength was connecting with the audience when performing. Inaba remarked on Hannigan's strength and confidence after the dance and said the actress is a “different person” from the first week. Hannigan earned 25 out of 30 from the judges.
For Mraz and his dance partner, “DWTS” pro Daniella Karagach, judge Bruno Tonioli asked them to re-do their foxtrot to “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra. Tonioli said when Mraz first performed the ballroom dance, it was too “tight.” But after Mraz took the dance floor in the finale, performing the routine for the second time with Karagach, Tonioli said the late Len Goodman would “love it." Tonioli also noted it was reminiscent of an old Hollywood performance like those from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The number earned three 10s from the judges.
Judge Derek Hough wanted Madix to re-do the samba, which she performed during the second week, for her redemption dance. The “Vanderpump Rules” star took to the dance floor with her pro partner, Pasha Pashkov, and danced to “Spice Up Your Life” by Spice Girls. Madix and Pashkov earned a score of 29.
Before her performance, Madix’s dear friend and former “DWTS” contestant Lisa Vanderpump, from the hit reality television series “Vanderpump Rules,” said Madix “brought tears to my eyes” this season.
Lawson, who earned an average ballroom score of 8.5 this season, performed a tango with pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev to “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla. After the pair's powerful performance, Hough called their routine the "best dance of the night so far." Tonioli added that it was “impeccably elegant.” The former "Bachelorette" and her pro earned a score of 29.
Gomez closed out the redemption round portion of the competition with a foxtrot to "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry alongside her pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy. Gomez, who was consistently at the top of the leaderboard each week alongside fellow competitor Lawson, earned a score of 30.
Freestyle Round
The freestyle round began with a fun dance from Lawson and Chigvintsev to "Lose My Breath" by Destiny's Child and "Suéltate" by Sam i & Jarina De Marco featuring Anitta & BIA. The pair earned a score of 30.
For their last dance in the ballroom, Madix and Pashkov performed a freestyle to "Run The World (Girls)" by Beyoncé with "Level Up" by Ciara. The pair earned a 30.
Ahead of her performance, Madix noted the difficult year she has had and said that she is “glad to be ending the year on a positive note” with “Dancing with the Stars.”
“I’m sad it was the last one, I’m glad we ended with that one,” Madix told Pashkov about their time together on the show at the end of their performance.
Mraz performed a high-energy freestyle with Karagach to "Happy" by C2C featuring Derek Martin. The number also earned a 30 from the judges.
At the end of his performance, Mraz said that ending the season with that dance felt "incredible.” He added that he “loved dancing” with Karagach this season.
Hannigan’s freestyle with Farber was set to “Enchanted (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift and "Papi" by Jennifer Lopez. The actress began with a dreamy dance to “Enchanted,” with several dance pros moving in unison with her and Farber before the music paused and the dance transitioned to high-energy choreography to “Papi.”
Tonioli praised Hannigan for the performance and said, “Honey, I celebrate you and what you brought to the show.” Hannigan also called her experience on the show “life-changing.” She and Farber earned a 28.
For their freestyle, Gomez and Chmerkovskiy danced to "Que Calor" by District 78. Tonioli, who called Gomez a “natural, charismatic performer” at the beginning of the episode, praised her "artistry' as a dancer. Hough also called her the most "charismatic dancer" this season. She and Chmerkovskiy earned a 30.
“Working creatively with Val on these dances has been so much fun,” Gomez said about her time with Chmerkovskiy this season. “Val has truly made me enjoy this experience to the fullest.”
All season 32 couples returned for a dance and more
The evening also included fun performances, including a Ray Leeper-choreographed opening dance number to “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Staton, which saw all season 32 couples returning to the ballroom.
At the very end of that performance, all five finalists descended into the ballroom on disco balls.
Additionally, season 31 mirrorball champs Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas returned to the ballroom for a routine to “Give it to Me Baby” by Rick James.
Co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, and several past "DWTS" champs, including Hannah Brown, Rashad Jennings and Helio Castroneves, took to the dance floor as well for a dance to Mariah Carey’s “Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town,” which was choreographed by dance pros Britt Stewart and Alan Bersten.
And Mraz took the stage to perform his song, “I Feel Like Dancing.” He was joined by the dance pros of the “DWTS LIVE 2024 Tour,” who performed a routine choreographed by Mandy Moore.
