One contestant on Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro is heading to the ballroom for season 35.
Warning: Spoilers for Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro below
When the dust settled after the Monday, August 31, final performances, judges Mark Ballas, Shirley Ballas and guest judge Derek Hough crowned Adele Zaikman as the first-ever champion of DWTS: The Next Pro.
“I just feel like this is a celebration. All the sacrifices that I have done, it’s just a big, ‘I made it’ moment,” Adele said.
Adele’s partner on season 35 of DWTS will be announced on the Wednesday, September 2, episode of Good Morning America alongside the full cast of pros and celebrities.
During Monday’s episode, Adele danced both a samba and a paso doble freestyle with former DWTS contestant Nev Schulman in front of a live audience.
“Adele, so dynamic. Striking performances every dance that you have done on this stage. It’s been an honor to watch and to judge you,” Mark said after both of her performances.
Adele beat runner-up AJ Pritchard, who performed with Charli D’Amelio.
“Having the opportunity to dance in the finale, especially with Charli, every single moment was just so enriching and something I will never forget for the rest of my life. At the same time, obviously absolutely devastated from every being in my body,” AJ said of placing second.
Selena Hamilton, meanwhile, placed third after taking the stage with Adam Rippon.
“I didn’t think I would make it past week one. So being in the top three has given me so much and just amazing friends. Yeah, this is not the end,” Selena shared of coming in third.
Ahead of her final performance, Adele became emotional while opening up about her health journey.
“It’s crazy because dance has always been my therapy. When I was 13, I got scoliosis in my back and I had to wear a brace for 2.5 years for 20 hours every single day,” she said. “The doctors said if I wouldn’t do it, I would not be able to dance. So these four hours that I was not wearing it, I was dancing. They were the happiest hours of my life. It saved me and I don’t know what I would do if I wouldn’t have dance.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a double premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
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