What To Know
- AJ Pritchard, Selena Hamilton, and Adele Zaikman competed in the finale of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.
- The contestants each had to choreograph routines with former Dancing With the Stars contestants and Derek Hough served as guest judge.
- A winner was named at the end of the night in front of a live audience.
We finally know who the new pro dancer on Dancing With the Stars Season 35 will be! A winner was named during the Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro finale on August 31 after AJ Pritchard, Adele Zaikman, and Selena Hamilton danced two more times.
This week, the Top 3 were paired up with former DWTS contestants to perform in front of judges Shirley Ballas, Mark Ballas, and guest Derek Hough. Witney Carson also returned to the ballroom to cohost with Robert Irwin, whom she won the Season 34 Mirrorball Trophy with.
For the couples’ first dances of the night, they performed a ballroom routine of a style chosen by The Next Pro contestants. The second dance of the night was a freestyle, just like in a regular DWTS finale.
Scroll down for a recap of the night’s performances and to find out who won Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro!
Selena Hamilton and Adam Rippon
Selena chose jive as her first style of the night. She was paired up with Olympic figure skater and former DWTS champion Adam Rippon for the finale.
“Selena, you are an electric dancer,” Mark said. “My favorite part of that whole routine was when you guys were side by side at one point. I wanted you to do it more. Don’t stop. Do it more. Jive is meant to incline the whole time. But I believe in you.”
Shirley praised Selena for working so well with Rippon, adding, “Over the course of the seven weeks, we’ve given you constructive criticism, and I have to say, you’ve taken it every step of the way. Wow moments, you are able to do. in fact, you are Miss Wow. That’s what you are.”
Hough pointed out that Selena doesn’t have as much experience in ballroom and Latin dance as the other contestants, but noted, “You have something you cannot teach. You command attention when you walk on that floor. The camera loves you. We love you. You’re a star.”
AJ Pritchard and Charli D’Amelio
AJ was paired with past DWTS winner (and Mark’s former partner) Charli D’Amelio for a Viennese waltz.
Disney/Vince Valitutti
Shirley felt AJ didn’t utilize D’Amelio’s strengths as well as he could have. “AJ, every heel and every toe that you do is absolutely on form,” she began. “But did you get the most out of this young lady? You got one wow moment in there, but with this type of a dancer, it could’ve had one maybe at the beginning and one at the end. But I wish you the best of luck.”
Mark called AJ a “fantastic ballroom dancer” and praised him for the amount of content in his routine, but said it could’ve used some “minor tweaks.” Hough added, “To see the trust between the two of you so quickly is a huge asset because trust is key on Dancing With the Stars. Well done for getting that.”
Adele Zaikman and Nev Schulman
Closing out the first round was Adele and former DWTS runner-up Nev Schulman. They performed Adele’s favorite dance, a samba, which Schulman actually never performed on his season.
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Hough praised Adele for choosing such a hard style for the finale, but noted, “Dancing With the Stars is a show with ballroom and Latin being the fundamentals. It’s important that when we choreograph routines in the future, there’s more to it. More creativity. But when it comes to quality, you’re that girl.”
Mark said he wanted to “see a little more” of the “wild and crazy” side of the samba, mixed in with the “refinement” that Adele included. “Things to work on, but beautiful samba,” he confirmed. Shirley called Adele a “magical teacher” and said her “use of musicality” is “second to none.”
Selena Hamilton and Adam Rippon
Selena and Rippon returned to the floor next for their no-rules freestyle, which was a fierce contemporary routine.
“It started with danger coming in with that lift. The side-by-side was awesome,” Mark gushed. “The flips, the amount of power you were able to generate … this is your wheelhouse.” Shirley said the routine could easily be performed during a Dancing With the Stars finale and “be ranked as one of the best” freestyles ever.
Hough agreed, adding, “If you were a pro on Dancing With the Stars tomorrow, you would be an instant fan-favorite.”
AJ Pritchard and Charli D’Amelio
AJ put many different dance styles in his and D’Amelio’s high-energy freestyle to show everything he learned over the course of the competition.
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“They say go big or go home, and you definitely went big on this freestyle,” Shirley raved. “Upbeat, fun, wild in places, meticulously danced. You jam-packed this routine, which is what I always wanted you to do.”
Hough said parts of the dance looked like they were “out of a Broadway show” and applauded AJ for “challenging” D’Amelio with a difficult routine. “To have you as a pro on the show would be absolutely valuable.”
Mark made sure to point out just how little time AJ had to choreograph something with such “grandness,” adding, “It just shows how good you are and what a great way to button up your journey.”
Adele Zaikman and Nev Schulman
Closing out the night was Adele and Schulman’s strong paso doble freestyle. Mark and Hough said they loved the style choice since it was something that made the pair stand out from the other two routines.
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“That dance was on fire, no pun intended,” Hough confirmed. “That was so good. That was powerful, it was controlled, it was grounded, it was intense.” He also told Adele, “If you became a pro, you wouldn’t just fit in, you would elevate the rest of the cast.”
Mark and Shirley both said Adele choreographed two “excellent” and “ambitious” routines, with Shirley noting, “Adele, you believe in making your partners work hard. It’s so easy to stand a man there while you dance all the way around, but you chose in both numbers not to do that.”
Who won Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro?
At the end of the episode, Shirley announced that Selena finished in third place, which left AJ and Adele fighting it out for the title of The Next Pro. AJ was the runner-up.
That means the winner of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro is … Adele Zaikman! She will officially be a cast member on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars, with her celebrity partner being revealed on September 2.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 35 Premiere, Tuesday, September 15, 8/7c, ABC