The climactic finale brought the cutthroat competition to a close, and saw the return of nine previously eliminated stars. DWTS crowns its winner in dramatic season 34 finale The climactic finale brought the cutthroat competition to a close, and saw the return of nine previously eliminated stars. By Ryan Coleman :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RyanColemanauthorphoto0081ce8f0254478080f35972c433877b.jpg) Ryan Coleman Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books. EW's editorial guidelines on November 25, 2025 11:38 p.m.

The climactic finale brought the cutthroat competition to a close, and saw the return of nine previously eliminated stars.

*DWTS *crowns its winner in dramatic season 34 finale

The climactic finale brought the cutthroat competition to a close, and saw the return of nine previously eliminated stars.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

EW's editorial guidelines

on November 25, 2025 11:38 p.m. ET

Robert Irwin, Witney Carson, Alix Earle, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jordan Chiles, and Ezra Sosa on 'Dancing With the Stars'. Credit:

*Dancing With the Stars* season 34 has come to a dramatic conclusion, and crowned a new winner.

Robert Irwin enters the annals of the reality hall of fame as the long-running reality competition series' 34th winner, beating Olympian Jordan Chiles, influencer Alix Earle, content creator Dylan Efron, and actress Elaine Hendrix for the rights to raise the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy above his head.

Cohost Alfonso Ribeiro announced shortly before he and Julianne Hough unveiled the big winner that tonight's finale broke several *DWTS *records. More votes were cast for the top two, Robert and Alix, than any top two in the show's history - and the margin between them was closer than ever. After more than 72 million votes tonight, and over 500 million from across the season, the leaderboard for *Dancing With the Stars *season 34 read as follows: Robert in first, Alix in second, Jordan in third, Dylan in fourth, and Elaine in fifth.

Witney Carson, Robert Irwin.

Holding the Mirrorball trophy in his hands, tears streaming down his face with an emotional Carson by his side, Irwin exclaimed, "My sister said it best, thank you for changing my life!"

Irwin's sister Bindi won season 21 of *DWTS *back in 2015. Moments before the figurative crown was placed upon his head, Robert got a tender message from his sister. A video package of well wishes from his loved ones kicked off with Bindi crying out, "Robert! I brought that mirror ball home 10 years ago. It's your turn, you've got this."

Terri Irwin, Robert and Bindi's mother and the widow of the beloved conservationist and TV staple Steve Irwin, then enthused about being able to see her son "be a warrior on the ballroom floor. No one would be more impressed than your dad." Finally, family friend Russell Crowe praised "all the hard work" it took Robert to get here.

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Eliminated 'DWTS' contestant completely breaks down over not making it to finale

Russell Crowe says late pal Steve Irwin would be 'in awe of his son' Robert Irwin on 'DWTS'

The jam-packed finale episode was divided into three rounds that flew by faster than a quick step. The Judges' Choice round saw the esteemed members of the judging panel - Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough - pass along morsels of learned wisdom to each competitor, before they descended into the ballroom to perform new routines.

The second round was the "Instant Dance Challenge," which polarized viewers when it was rolled out for the 500th episode celebration last year, but actually debuted on season 12 in 2011. For this borderline-sadistic challenge, each couple was given four different dance styles to prepare ahead of time, but only minutes to pick a costume and perform in the ballroom after one was randomly selected.

Fortunately, the final round of competition was the beloved Freestyle section, in which all rules are suspended, liberating the stars and their pro partners to showcase the very best of their skills and flair.

Witney Carson, Robert Irwin.

Disney/Eric McCandless

The finale celebration also welcomed scads of past competitors back into the fold. Last season's winners, Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, proved why they won the season 33 Mirrorball trophy with a dance to Fabio Hager Sexteto's "Tanguera." Though he's retired from the competition, the *Bachelor *alum has been a constant presence this season, showing up in the ballroom on each episode with the guest he plans to interview on that week's edition of the official *DWTS *podcast.

To the live audience's great delight, season 34's nine previously eliminated couples also returned to perform dances throughout the evening to Tyler, The Creator's "Sugar on My Tongue," Lady Gaga's "Applause," and Alexander Jean's "I Don't Dance." The whole ensemble opened the show with a jubilant group routine to Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye."

Robert Irwin and Witney Carson on 'Dancing With the Stars'.

Finally, the *DWTS* Live 2026 Tour troupe stormed the ballroom with even more performances to recent pop chart toppers "Talk Talk (featuring Troye Sivan)" by Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, and an acoustic version of Taylor Swift's TS12 lead single "The Fate of Ophelia."

34 seasons in, *Dancing With the Stars *is a well-oiled machine. This finale fired off without a single hitch. It may live on to be one of the most joyous nights in Irwin's life, but the legions of *DWTS *fans at home will certainly feel an absence until ABC announces its return with season 35.

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Source: Dancing

Published: November 29, 2025 at 02:57PM on Source: ANDY MAG

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