The Season 34 “Dancing With the Stars” finale aired on November 26, 2025. After 11 weeks of competition, the Season 34 finale was one of the most popular and anticipated finales in all of “Dancing with the Stars” history. 

“Dancing with the Stars” is a reality TV show where a famous person or “star” is paired up with a dancing “pro” and they perform a variety of ballroom and other style dances to receive both judges’ scores and votes from the public. This year, the finale “stars” consisted of Alix Earle, known for her social media personality; Robert Irwin, a wildlife conservationist; Jordan Chiles, an Olympic gold medal winner in gymnastics; Dylan Effron, a reality TV star and social media personality; and Elaine Hendrix, an actor. 

The 2025 season generated the most social media attention ever, receiving over 72 million votes in its Season 34 finale, which was a record-breaking number. Across the entire season, nearly half a billion votes were cast, according to People.com.

The two fan favorites in the finale were Alix Earle, partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy, and Robert Irwin, partnered with Witney Carson. Both Alix and Va,l and Robert and Witney had more votes than anyone had ever received on “Dancing with the Stars.” Plus, Julianne, one of the hosts, said the gap between them “is one of the tightest” they had ever seen in a finale.

While Robert and Witney were crowned Season 34’s winners, receiving the Len Goodman mirrorball trophy, I – along with thousands of people on social media – truly believe that Alix and Val were robbed of this title.  

First of all, Alix and Val had the highest combined judges’ score in the finale, earning a perfect score of 60, while Robert and Witney received a 59. The finale consisted of three dance rounds, a Judges’ Choice round, an Instant Dance round, and a Freestyle round. Alix and Val received perfect scores from all three judges for every single one of these rounds, whereas Robert and Witney did not. On a purely performance level, Alix and Val outdanced them. 

Some people have argued that Robert used his family’s touching story and a rib injury to gain sympathy votes. Whereas Alix, who also suffered from a rib injury throughout the season, never mentioned this or used it as a method of gaining votes. Prior to every performance, DWTS shows a brief “package” that consists of clips and interviews with the pro and the star during their week of training, so viewers can see an inside glimpse of all the hard work their favorite star has been putting in. In many of these packages, Robert mentioned something about his rib injury or his family, giving his packages a heavy emotional feel. While there were times Alix got emotional, all of her packages, on the other hand, focused on how hard she was working and how committed she was to getting better. Alix’s dedication and hard work are just another reason why she should have won the Len Goodman mirror ball trophy. 

While it is true that Robert and Witney had many amazing performances and earned many perfect scores over the course of the season, Robert less often branched out with other dance styles. Alix was the most improved throughout the season, and challenged herself with more difficult dances, while Robert more often stuck to dances like the Quickstep or Jive. Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on “Dancing with the Stars,” outright said that Alix was the most improved dancer. The comment came during the semifinals (Prince Night episode, November 18, 2025), after Alix and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, performed an Argentine tango and a Viennese waltz. 

Inaba’s exact words were, “Out of all the competitors who are here tonight, you have grown the most, steadily, in all aspects of your performance. You’re really blossoming.” 

Her improvement was a direct result of all of the hard work she has put in. I, as well as many others, believe that this hard work and improvement should have been rewarded with the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Overall, Season 34 was one of the best seasons in

“Dancing with the Stars” history, and all the stars and pros truly raised the bar, changing the game forever. And while for many it feels like Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy truly deserved that title, it will be exciting to see what they still accomplish in the future.