Season 31 of Dancing with the Stars was electric. This season saw many firsts. DWTS had the first all-male pairing with RuPaul’s Drag Race star Shangela and pro Gleb Savchenko.
The D’Amelio Show star Heidi D’Amelio was cast along with her daughter, TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio. They are the first mother and daughter celebrities to compete on the show.
Sadly, it was also the last season with judge Len Goodman, who retired from the ballroom. Longtime pro Cheryl Burke also exited the show.
Charli was partnered with returning pro Mark Ballas. The two-time mirrorball champion hadn’t been in the ballroom since Season 25. During the Season 31 premiere, Charli and Mark’s sizzling cha-cha landed them at the top of the leaderboard.
During the finale, the couple competed against Shangela and Gleb, comedian Wayne Brady and pro Witney Carson, and Bachelorette star Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy. All four couples brought it with their freestyle routines.
Shangela and Gleb took fourth place, while Wayne and Witney came in third. Gabby and Val ended up in second place. Charli and Mark took home the mirrorball trophy.
The “elated” winners spoke to Page Six right after the finale. “It’s been crazy, just so amazing. It all happened so fast that I don’t even know how to feel yet,” Charli stated.
Mark choreographed their freestyle routine to Pinar Toprak’s “Us Again.” He opted to keep the focus on just the choreography. That was a bold move since freestyle numbers usually feature sets and backup dancers. For example, Gabby and Val’s sexy freestyle was set to “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago.
“It’s funny, I have a folder in my phone of music I’d love to create something to,” Mark explained. “I haven’t done the show in a long time and I had a little link to that song.” He continued, “It’s from a Disney short called Us Again. And I was like, ‘If I ever go back on the show, use this song.’ So, I went back and listened to it, and when I listened to it, I could see it from start to finish,” Mark added.
Their freestyle was about two people who rediscovered the joy of dancing. He stated that he and Charli have “become like family” during the competition.
“I’ve had a great time. I think every week I’ve learned something new,” Charli remarked. “From the actual dance moves to learning how to perform and just learning how to rehearse,” the 18-year-old said. “There’s so many different things that we worked on that I just couldn’t narrow it down to one or even just a few things.”
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Charli’s sister, Dixie D’Amelio, and her father Marc D’Amelio were seated in the front row. Charli’s boyfriend Landon Barker was also there to cheer her on.
“I’m so incredibly proud of her,” Dixie told Page Six. “I miss her so much and I’m excited to be around her more. She did so amazing. She’s worked so hard and I’m just so proud of her,” she added.
Charli’s father spoke about how he is “just so happy” to see Charli dancing again. “She grew up dancing. It’s in her heart, it’s in her blood,” Marc said. “It’s so important to her.” He added, “For her to get back into this, on this stage, and win it, it’s incredible for her.”
Congrats to Charli and Mark!
TELL US- WHAT DID YOU THINK OF SEASON 31 OF DWTS? ARE YOU GLAD THAT MARK RETURNED FOR THE SEASON? WHO DID YOU THINK WOULD WIN THE MIRRORBALL?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Andrew Eccles]