Congratulations are in order for Charli D’Amelio! She and Mark Ballas took home the mirrorball trophy for Dancing With the Stars season 31 on Monday, November 21.
The winner was announced after each remaining couple completed their two final dances. Charli, for her part, danced a jive to “Grown” by Little Mix for their redemption round routine. When it came to the freestyle, they rocked out to “Us Again” by Pinar Toprak.
“Thank you guys. This is all thanks to you,” Charli told viewers following their win. “Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you Mark for becoming my new best friend.”
Weeks before the finale, the TikTok personality, 18, revealed that she was initially interested in DWTS because of her love of dance. However, getting a chance to compete alongside her mom, Heidi D’Amelio (who also appeared on season 31), was a major decision-making factor.
“Originally, I wanted to do it because I love dancing but I was also like, ‘I know my mom wants to do it and I want to be there with her,’” Charli shared with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 on October 28. “I was very, very unsure up until a few days before the first, probably up until the day of the first show because I just didn’t know. I didn’t know how this was going to go. I didn’t know how I was going to feel.”
But once she got the hang of it, the D’Amelio Show star was all in!
“I’m very lucky and I’ve heard this from multiple people on the show, that this is a good cast. It’s a good cast. I have made so many friends. My partner is just the sweetest person ever,” Charli added. “Every day I’m learning more and more about all of these people that do such incredible things because we all come from different parts of the entertainment industry. Everyone on the show is just OK with figuring it out as we go, because that’s all we can do. I’ve just made such incredible friends and I can’t even explain it, but I am having the time of my life.”
While Charli finished in first, former Bachelorette Gabby Windey ended up in second place with Wayne Brady in third and Shangela in fourth.
During her time on the reality competition show, the YouTube sensation also had some major support from boyfriend Landon Barker.
“He was very proud of me,” she gushed to reporters following the show’s season 31 premiere. “He’s never seen me dance before, so I think he was nervous. But he’s always been so supportive.”
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