‘DWTS’ Finalists Reveal What Got Them Through the Season During After Party
ABC/Paula Lobo Reading Time: 4 minutes
The winner of the 30th season of Dancing With the Stars was awarded last night. For the first time ever, an NBA player, Iman Shumpert, took home the mirrorball trophy. Today, the Dancing With the Stars cast had their after party live on Good Morning America. The four couples all sat together to celebrate their accomplishments.
When asked about which couples thought they would be in the finals at the end, none of the participants raised their hand. Even though three of the celebrity finalists had dance experience prior to the show, they didn’t predict the outcome.
Throughout the series, each of the finalists overcame adversity in some way. Amanda Kloots told the story of her late husband throughout the show. Amanda is a now a single mother, so she is always busy doing something. She took this experience and made it into something she could do for herself.
“I think this show it just brings up so many unexpected emotions because you’re working so hard. It was so great to work with Alan everyday, to find a new friend and trust somebody again and have that person you can rely on everyday,” said Amanda. “Just to do something for myself everyday, that was so nice and it sounds a little selfish but as a mom, as a single mom and I have I work like five jobs just to be able to go dance everyday for three hours for myself, it brought so much joy back into my life.”
She wasn’t the only celebrity who turned to dance as something for themself. On Disney Night of the competition, JoJo Siwa and girlfriend Kylie Prew part ways. This was JoJo’s first public breakup, so many sources confirmed that she was focused on the show throughout it. Since this happened, JoJo became better friends with her partner, Jenna Johnson.
The couple that really had a tough battle in the beginning of the show was Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke. The two ended up dancing via video for a week since after testing positive for Covid-19. Their two weeks at home seriously showed in their scores, but they were still able to win third place in this year’s competition.
“It was you know challenging in the beginning because we had just met and to have a zoom relationship and to be able to communicate and actually having to teach via zoom was difficult but we were able to get back and we were just happy to have that opportunity really,” said Cheryl.
Iman Shumpert Never Doubted Partner Daniella Karagach
This season of Dancing With the Stars was Daniella’s second, and she’s already brought home a mirrorball. While many people would be nervous to be paired up with a newcomer to the show, Iman didn’t let it get the best of him.
“I felt like the whole season I was telling Dani, man you just great at what you do. Everyone was saying that she didn’t have a mirrorball yet so I’m just like really happy she got one now,” said Iman. “Y’all can get rid of that excuse she got one now. It’s literally been amazing to be apart of dancing with the stars,all the people they had before me and for them to even want me on the show, It’s just you know, that was the best night that I could’ve had.”
Even with more than a foot height difference, Iman and Daniella were able to reign victorious on this season of Dancing With the Stars. After feeling out the competition in the first couple of weeks, they quickly became the couple to beat in the competition. Their final performance of freestyle definitely impressed everyone who tuned into the show.
“King Kimo flew in from Chicago to teach us both how to footwork. I thought it was cool that all season I had to learn all these dance styles and then for the finale Dani’s like no I’m going to learn how to footwork, I’m going to go there with you,” said Iman. “It was cool to have that flip-flop and have her have that solo moment and feel like she’s at a house party with me in Chicago having a good time.”
This dance gained so much traction that the singer of their music, Missy Elliot shared the performance on Twitter where she praised their Chicago style footwork.
