During its 16-year run on ABC, Dancing With the Stars has crowned plenty of worthy winners… and a few who weren’t so worthy.
Now that the competition series is officially coming back for Season 30, we’ve ranked all 29 of Dancing’s previous champions; scroll through the gallery below to see our order, then drop a comment with your own!
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 29. Bobby Bones (Season 27)
Despite his career as a country radio DJ (and side hustle as American Idol’s resident mentor), Bones’ proximity to the music world didn’t quite give him the rhythm or flow that he needed to dance well — not that it mattered much to his considerable fanbase, which ultimately scored him the win. And though Bones’ upbeat attitude in the face of season-long criticism was admirable, his lack of real dance skill made the victory feel very questionable. It was so controversial, in fact, that DWTS went on to create the judges’ save for Season 28, intended to weed out the weak contestants (…but that didn’t do the trick, either).
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 28. Kelly Monaco (Season 1)
We mean no disrespect to Dancing’s first-ever champion, but Monaco’s win came with a few asterisks. First, she was one of only six celebrities competing in Season 1, which is considerably less competition than dancers faced in future years. But the real fuss over Monaco’s victory came when she beat out Seinfeld alum John O’Hurley, widely considered the frontrunner of the inaugural season. Viewers were so frustrated with the outcome (and puzzled by the show’s voting structure) that DWTS ultimately staged a rematch between the two finalists, which O’Hurley won by a very narrow margin.
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DANCING WITH THE STARS THE RESULTS SHOW
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 27. Hélio Castroneves (Season 5)
Given his career as a race car driver — that is, a career spent sitting down — Castroneves’ showing in the ballroom was quite impressive. But we’re still not convinced he and Julianne Hough deserved the title over Spice Girls alum Melanie Brown… and 13 years down the road, we aren’t rushing to binge his routines on YouTube.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 26. Donald Driver (Season 14)
DWTS has seen its fair share of upsets, including Driver’s unexpected win over singer Katherine Jenkins. Driver and his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, did earn consistently solid scores throughout the season — but his victory against Jenkins, who was arguably one of the show’s best-ever female contestants, remains puzzling.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 25. Adam Rippon (Season 26)
Much like Monaco’s win, Rippon’s is hard to assess, seeing as he competed on Dancing’s all-athletes edition (which only ran for four weeks). His technical skill and chemistry with partner Jenna Johnson were obvious from the start… but we have to knock him down a few places for this truly bizarre freestyle.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 24. Brooke Burke (Season 7)
Burke’s victory tends to get lost in the shuffle of Dancing’s many, many seasons, but we’ll give her this: After winning Season 7, she then went on to replace Samantha Harris as the show’s co-host for eight years. We respect the hustle.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 23. J.R. Martinez (Season 13)
Whereas some Dancing champions start at the top of the leaderboard and sustain that momentum for three months of competition, Martinez’s journey to the Mirrorball was slightly more rocky: He and partner Karina Smirnoff earned scores all over the map, including the week of the finale. But scores are often less important than the impact a contestant has on others, and Martinez — who overcame significant adversity from his time in the Army — was indeed an inspiration to all.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 22. Kristi Yamaguchi (Season 6)
Yamaguchi’s win can be filed under the Perfectly Pleasant, But Predictable category. With a background in figure skating and a fabulous partner in Mark Ballas, her trajectory on the show wasn’t much of a surprise — but we sure enjoyed watching it anyway.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 21. Kellie Pickler (Season 16)
It’s time for us to repeat three words we said a lot in 2013: Zendaya was robbed.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 20. Jennifer Grey (Season 11)
Dancing With the Stars has historically proven challenging for older celebrities, and Grey — who was 50 at the time — faced off against numerous younger contestants in Season 11, including runner-up Kyle Massey. But just as nobody puts Baby in a corner, nobody counts out the Dirty Dancing actress who’s known for the toughest lift in dance movie history. Frankly, the Mirrorball should feel honored to be in her possession.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 19. Hannah Brown (Season 28)
Brown spent much of Season 28 seeking the approval of judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who was oddly and conspicuously critical of Brown despite her obvious talent on the dance floor. In the end, Brown pulled out a win, but her focus on the judges’ remarks kept her from delivering any true Hall of Fame performances.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 18. Hines Ward (Season 12)
Much like other pro football players who’ve competed on this show, Ward got off to a promising start — he and partner Kym Johnson scored a respectable 21 out of 30 with their first routine — then continued to steadily improve. In fact, for all but one week during that season, Ward consistently earned a higher score than he’d gotten the previous week. As fun as it can be to watch ringers steamroll over their competition, it’s even more enjoyable to watch a rough-around-the-edges amateur get better each week, and that’s exactly how Ward snagged the Season 12 win.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 17. Donny Osmond (Season 9)
Winning Dancing With the Stars at all? Impressive. Winning Dancing With the Stars at age 52, while in a finale face-off with Mya and Kelly Osbourne? Very impressive.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 16. Nicole Scherzinger (Season 10)
You might see Scherzinger’s name and assume she was a shoo-in for the win, given her performing career. But the Season 10 roster was a strong one, and at least three other celebrities — figure skater Evan Lysacek, ESPN reporter-turned-DWTS cohost Erin Andrews and football player Chad Ochocinco — all made excellent cases for the Mirrorball. Scherzinger had her work cut out for her, and her triumph was well-deserved.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 15. Rashad Jennings (Season 24)
Jennings was the exact kind of DWTS contestant that makes the show fun to watch: He started the season with massive potential (and some room for improvement, of course), then continued to build on that potential with each passing week. The only drawback to his triumph was that he beat out pop singer Normani Kordei, who was arguably the stronger dancer.
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ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV, KAITLYN BRISTOWE
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 14. Kaitlyn Bristowe (Season 29)
Much like fellow Bachelorette Hannah Brown, Bristowe had an altogether solid run on DWTS; she’d dreamed of participating on the show for years, and, having arrived in the competition with prior dance experience, was a natural at picking up choreography. But even though she had a strong start and strong finish in the ballroom, about one-third of Season 29 flew by without Bristowe really pushing her own boundaries or delivering standout performances. She was no doubt deserving of that Mirrorball trophy in the end, but in our estimation, runner-up Nev Schulman showcased a wider range and willingness to challenge himself creatively.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 13. Alfonso Ribeiro (Season 19)
All eyes were on Pretty Little Liars actress Janel Parrish in Season 19, as she and partner Val Chmerkovskiy seemed destined for a win. But even though Parrish often outscored Ribeiro on the dance floor, the Fresh Prince alum’s personality was so infectious, we just couldn’t be mad that he ultimately pulled off the upset.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 12. Bindi Irwin (Season 21)
Aside from being a gifted dancer, Irwin was one of the most delightful humans to ever grace the ballroom, imbuing all of her performances with sunny optimism. But Irwin was so clearly the frontrunner from the beginning — she scored a 24 out of 30 in Week 1, people! — that the season lacked any real tension or unpredictability; she probably could have just swiped that Mirrorball off its pedestal after her very first performance.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 11. Drew Lachey (Season 2)
A whopping 27 seasons have aired since Lachey was first on DWTS, making it hard to compare his and Cheryl Burke’s performances with more modern ones; looking back on 2006 television, everything feels a bit cringey. But there’s no denying that Lachey and Burke’s fun freestyle was a bit of a game-changer on the show, paving the way for more daring routines in future seasons.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 10. Melissa Rycroft (Season 15)
Rycroft didn’t just win any old season of Dancing With the Stars; she emerged victorious from the show’s first and only all-stars edition, facing stiff competition from the likes of Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith and Shawn Johnson — all previous winners, mind you. But the Bachelor alumna worked hard to get redemption for her Season 8 run, where she’d finished in third place, and it was a joy to watch her snag the win this time around.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 9. Amber Riley (Season 17)
Riley was a force of nature on Glee (and just about every other project she’s done), so it came as no surprise that her time on DWTS ended with a win. Making her victory more impressive, though, was the relentless knee pain she suffered throughout the season, all of it overcome with positivity and high-energy performances like this one.
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Dancers Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke, celebrate their win and display the mirrorball trophy.
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 8. Emmitt Smith (Season 3)
Light-footed athletes have become such a Dancing staple that there was once an entire season full of only athletes. Though Smith wasn’t the first footballer to make it to finale night — that was Jerry Rice in Season 2 — his success certainly set a high bar for future NFL pros attempting ballroom dance, and his willingness to embrace the spirit of the show was quite refreshing. (That said, with scores ranging from a perfect 30 all the way down to 19, he wasn’t the most consistent of the bunch. But we’re still big fans!)
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 7. Laurie Hernandez (Season 23)
A few other gymnasts, including Nastia Liukin and Simone Biles, have tried their hand at Dancing and come up short of the Mirrorball, often due to their lack of emotional connection to the dances. (There’s no crying in gymnastics, after all.) But with the help of partner Val Chmerkovskiy, Hernandez overcame that obstacle and delivered routines with real depth and maturity. Still, we’ll admit: We kinda wanted to see runner-up James Hinchcliffe take the top prize that year.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 6. Shawn Johnson (Season 8)
Johnson, who was Dancing’s youngest champion at the time of her win (at age 17), was a tremendous competitor in her own right. But her place in our ranking isn’t only due to strong dancing; it’s also thanks to the deliciously tense showdown that took place between her and actor Gilles Marini, who was considered by many to be a frontrunner for the Mirrorball. In the end, less than 1 percent of the votes separated Johnson and Marini on finale night — and who doesn’t love a little drama?
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 5. Apolo Anton Ohno (Season 4)
Not only did Ohno claim the Mirrorball in Dancing’s fourth season, but he managed to crack the Top 5 when he returned for the all-stars season in 2012. In short, he’s good. Like, getting-a-perfect-score-in-Week-5 good.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 4. Rumer Willis (Season 20)
The neck-and-neck showdown between Willis and musician Riker Lynch remains one of Dancing’s most exciting finales. (Seriously, we lost count of how many perfect scores each couple received.) But in the end, it kinda had to be Willis: There seemed to be no style she couldn’t navigate with ease — including a ballet-infused contemporary! — and her chemistry with partner Val Chmerkovskiy was off the charts.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 3. Jordan Fisher (Season 25)
Fisher’s partnership with Lindsay Arnold was a match made in Dancing heaven. Sure, he might belong in the “ringer” category, given his past experience with dance and live theater — but when Fisher delivered this jive, while nursing an eye injury, all we could do was watch in absolute awe. (Those cartwheels!)
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 2. Meryl Davis (Season 18)
We could have guessed that Davis would walk away with the Mirrorball as soon as she was cast; after all, she was an Olympic ice dancer with the grace, strength and choreography know-how that practically ensured her win. But Davis went on to exceed our expectations, delivering dances that were so smooth and light, we thought perhaps she was gliding on ice. Plus, her chemistry with Maks Chmerkovskiy was undeniable, allowing them to deliver one of the show’s best-ever freestyle routines.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC 1. Nyle DiMarco (Season 22)
Competing on Dancing With the Stars is difficult enough on its own; to participate as a deaf contestant is an entirely different beast. But DiMarco was such a stellar performer that you’d never know he was facing countless challenges, including a reliance on the vibrations of the music and a heightened dependency on counting the beats of the choreography in his head. Despite it all, DiMarco delivered knockout after knockout — and even if he hadn’t proven to be a marvelous dancer (Exhibit A: this routine), his endless positivity and adaptability would keep him at the top of our list anyway.
