‘Dancing With the Stars’ Winners Through the Years: Where Are They Now?

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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Winners Through the Years: Where Are They Now?

In June 2005, ABC launched the U.S. version of the U.K. series Strictly Come Dancing. Tom Bergeron served as the host of Dancing With the Stars, with Lisa Canning as his cohost in season 1. Samantha Harris replaced Canning in season 2 for eight seasons. In season 10, Brooke Burke (who won season 7) took over as cohost until season 18, when Erin Andrews (who competed in season 10) took over.

Andrews and Bergeron hosted together until season 29 when they were replaced by Tyra Banks.

“As we embark on a new creative direction, he departs the show with our sincerest thanks and gratitude for his trademark wit and charm that helped make this show a success,” ABC and BBC said in a statement at the time. “Erin will also not be returning, and we appreciate all that she brought to the ballroom. Fans have been rooting for her since she originally competed as a contestant back in 2010, and her signature sense of humor has become a hallmark of the show.”

Ahead of season 31, Alfonso Ribeiro was announced as a cohost for the model.

Each season, a celebrity is partnered with a professional dancer. In season 12, the ABC reality series introduced the troupe, consisting of professional dancers who danced between numbers but were not paired with celebs.

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Peta Murgatroyd, Brandon Armstrong, Lindsay Arnold, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Witney Carson, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Keo Motsepe, Gleb Savchenko and Emma Slater all began as members of the troupe before joining the main cast of pros.

Additionally, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman have served as judges since the series’ debut, with pro dancer Julianne Hough briefly joining the table for seasons 19-21, then again for seasons 23 and 24. During season 29, Goodman was also replaced, since he was unable to travel to L.A. due to the coronavirus pandemic. Former pro Derek Hough became the third judge.

Many former contestants or members of the dance community have also joined as a guest host for an episode through the years, including Paula Abdul, Nick Carter, Cher, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Jessie J, Rashad Jennings, Baz Luhrmann, Ricky Martin, Idina Menzel, Abby Lee Miller, Mandy Moore and Olivia Newton-John.

The hit show launched a spinoff in 2018, Dancing with the Stars: Juniors. Val Chmerkovskiy and Adam Rippon judged the competition and the cast was made up of celebrity kids, including Tripp Palin, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and Mackenzie Ziegler. The show was canceled after one season.

Scroll through the gallery below to see every star who has won the reality show and where they are today:

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Kelly Monaco

Monaco won season 1 with pro dancer Alec Mazo, then went on to star in a burlesque act called Peepshow. She also continued to star on General Hospital and returned to Dancing With the Stars to compete again on season 15’s all-stars season. She came in third place.

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Drew Lachey

Months after his season 2 win, the 98 Degrees singer hosted the Miss USA pageant in 2006. In 2010, he and wife Lea Dellecave welcomed their second child, Hudson. Lachey competed in season 15’s all-stars season but was sent home third. In 2019, he appeared on season 11 of American Ninja Warrior but was eliminated during the second obstacle.

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Emmitt Smith

The former NFL star joined ESPN as a studio analyst one year after winning Dancing With the Stars in 2006. He also competed on season 15, coming in fourth place. In 2010, he and wife Patricia Southall welcomed their third child, Elijah.

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Apolo Ohno

One year after winning Dancing With the Stars, the Olympian won his first overall World Championship title in 2008. He returned for season 15 of Dancing With the Stars and came in fifth place. In 2013, the speed skater hosted Minute to Win It on Game Show Network. In 2014, he served as a commentator for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and then in 2018, the Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

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Hélio Castroneves

Two years after winning in 2007, the race car driver won his third Indianapolis 500. That same year, he welcomed his first child, a daughter Mikaella, with wife Adriana Henao. He returned for the all-stars season and was eliminated during week three.

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Kristi Yamaguchi

Just days after winning the mirrorball, the figure skater received the 2008 Sonja Henie Award from the Professional Skaters Association. In 2010, she became a daily NBC Olympics skating broadcast analyst and went on to become a special correspondent during the 2010 Winter Olympics for the Today show. In 2011, she published a children’s book, Dream Big, Little Pig!

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Brooke Burke

After winning season 7, Burke became cohost for seasons 10 through 17, before Andrews took over. She had many hosting jobs over the years, including four years of the Miss America pageants. She competed on The New Celebrity Apprentice in 2017. Aside from TV, Burke published a book in 2011, titled The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom’s Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice, and Soulful Reflections. The same year, she married David Charvet after dating for five years. In 2018, they announced their split. The longtime host also underwent surgery in 2012 after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

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Shawn Johnson

Two years after winning in 2009, the gymnast joined the 2011 USA Women’s World Championships Team, then the 2011 Pan American Games Team, in which she won a gold medal in the team competition and a silver medal for the uneven bars. In June 2012, she announced her retirement from gymnastics. A few months later, she competed on the All-Stars season and came in second place. She has made multiple TV appearances and published three books. She married athlete Andrew East in 2016, and the pair welcomed their first child in October 2019.

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Donny Osmond

After winning season 9 in 2009, Osmond returned to the show multiple times as a guest performer and a guest judge. He continued his Las Vegas residency for 11 years, wrapping in 2019. The singer dropped an album, The Soundtrack of My Life, in 2015 and four years later, in 2019, came in second place on season 1 of The Masked Singer.

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Nicole Scherzinger

The former Pussycat Dolls singer continued her TV appearances after her 2010 win, becoming a judge on The X Factor in 2011 and cohosting Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris in 2015. She dropped her second solo album in 2014. She played Penny in 2017’s Dirty Dancing, and in April 2019, Scherzinger joined Australia’s Got Talent as a judge for its ninth season. She has also been a judge on The Masked Singer since it’s 2019 debut. 

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Jennifer Grey

The Dirty Dancing star continued with her acting career after her 2010 win. She starred in Amazon’s Red Oaks for four years. In 2019, she had a three-episode arc on Grey’s Anatomy and in 2020, she made a guest appearance on The Conners.

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Hines Ward

Following his time on Dancing, he starred as a member of the Gotham Rogues football team in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises and appeared as a walker on season 3 of The Walking Dead. In 2016, he joined CNN as a studio analyst.

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J.R. Martinez

After winning the mirrorball trophy in 2011, the former U.S. Army soldier went on to star on SAF3 and appeared on the season 6 finale of Army Wives. In 2013, the All My Children alum also began his own radio show.

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Donald Driver

After winning the mirrorball in May 2012, Driver officially retired from the NFL, announcing the news in January 2013. In 2017, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

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Melissa Rycroft

The Bachelor alum first competed in season 8 of the reality show but came in third place. She returned for the all-stars season and took home the mirrorball. She and husband Tye Strickland landed their own reality show, Melissa & Tye, on CMT 2012, but it only ran for one season. She also went on to host CMT’s Redneck Island. The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader also welcomed two more children after the show ended, sons Beckett, in 2014 and Cayson, in 2016, to join her daughter, Ava, born in 2011.

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Kellie Pickler

Following her win 213, Pickler dropped her fourth album, The Woman I Am. In 2015, she and husband Kyle Jacobs starred in the reality show Love Kellie Pickler. From 2017 to 2019, she cohosted the daytime TV talk show Pickler & Ben with Ben Aaron. Since 2018, the American Idol alum has starred in Hallmark holiday movies.

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Amber Riley

After the Glee alum won in 2013, she launched a fashion line, Rileyland Fashions, with her sister, Ashley. In 2016, she led the West End’s production of Dreamgirls. One year later, Riley released an album, Songs from the Stage, with Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson. In 2019, she emceed The Little Mermaid Live!

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Meryl Davis

The Olympian continued to skate with partner Charlie White after her 2014 win, until 2017, when she announced her retirement. In 2019, she married figure skater Fedor Andreev.

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Alfonso Ribeiro

Months after his 2014 win, the actor was named the new host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, replacing Tom Bergeron. In 2019, he began hosting “The 90s with Alfonso Ribeiro” radio show. His family also expanded after the show as he and his wife welcomed their second son, Anders, in 2015 and a daughter, Ava, in 2019.

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Rumer Willis

Willis began doing even more acting after her 2015 Dancing win, starring in Empire, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 9-1-1. In September 2015, she made her Broadway debut in Chicago. She also performed on season 1 of The Masked Singer. In December 2022, the actress announced that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas.

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Bindi Irwin

In 2016, Irwin — who won the mirrorball in 2015 —dropped her fourth album, Bindi and The Jungle Girls Bindi’s Island Dance Party. In 2020, the conservationist married wakeboarder Chandler Powell. The couple went on to welcome daughter Grace in March 2021.

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Nyle DiMarco

The model, who won in 2016, has appeared in multiple music videos and on Hulu’s Difficult People and ABC’s Station 19. He also started The Nyle DiMarco Foundation, a nonprofit providing resources for deaf children and their families.

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Laurie Hernandez

In 2020, Hernandez testified against her former gymnastics coach, Maggie Haney, who was suspended due to abusive conduct. Although the athlete has not competed since her time on DWTS in 2016, she has not retired and in January 2020, announced she was training again. In 2018, Hernandez cohosted American Ninja Warrior Junior and published a children’s book, She’s Got This.

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Rashad Jennings

The footballer announced his NFL retirement months after winning the show in 2017. In May 2018, he released his first book, The If in Life: How to Get Off Life’s Sidelines And Become Your Best Self. He also is the author of The Coin Slot Chronicles series, following the journey of 11-year-old Arcade.

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Jordan Fisher

After taking home the mirrorball trophy in 2017, he got engaged to Ellie Woods in May 2019 and landed a leading role in Fox’s Rent: Live. He also was cast in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You the same year. Fisher was cast as the lead in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway in 2020.

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Adam Rippon

Months after Dancing in 2018, Rippon announced his retirement from competitive figure skating. In 2019, he released a memoir, Beautiful on the Outside, and appeared in Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” video.

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Bobby Bones

After his 2018 win, Bones returned to The Bobby Bones Show. He also became a full-time mentor on American Idol and served as a guest host when Ryan Seacrest was out sick.

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Hannah Brown

The former Bachelorette has since moved to Los Angeles full time since winning DWTS in 2019. She has been dating model Adam Woolard since early 2021, confirming the romance publicly for the first time on Valentine’s Day.

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Kaitlyn Bristowe

Six months after winning alongside partner Artem Chigvintsev, Bristowe got engaged to boyfriend Jason Tartick.

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Iman Shumpert

The athlete became the first-ever NBA star to win the competition series when he took home the mirrorball trophy in 2021’s season 30. The win was also the first for his partner, Daniella Karagach.