Entertainment

The 'DWTS' Season 23 Winner Is...

Another season of Dancing With The Stars, another great dancer to take home that big Mirrorball trophy. Season 23 has been quite interesting, to say the least. Contestants like former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Vanilla Ice, and football player Calvin Johnson took the stage along with two Olympians — gymnast Laurie Hernandez and swimmer Ryan Lochte. Everyone did fairly well throughout the whole season, and this season was the first time ever that three athletes — Calvin Johnson, Laurie Hernandez, and Indy Car driver James Hinchcliffe — were in the final three. But, of course, there can only be one. Laurie Hernandez is the winner of Dancing With The Stars Season 23!

It was a close match from the start — Calvin, Laurie, and James were all pretty equally matched on charm and ability. Laurie, of course, had a little more spunkiness in her (I would too if I were still barely a teenager), but when it came to scoring, all three dancers and their professional partners received similar amounts of perfect scores and judge praise. Even during the finale, everyone got a perfect score from the judges! It really all came down to the phone call votes, and even then, it was very, very close. When Calvin got eliminated first, I still had no idea who was going to win, and that was the refrain of the night — it was really anyone's game. But Laurie and Val's foxtrot-and-Argentine-tango combo must have won some hearts, because she came home with the big prize of the night.

Laurie had another big announcement on Dancing With The Stars finale — she'll be joining the Dancing With The Stars tour, so if you want to see the Season 23 champion, all you have to do is buy some tickets when the show comes to your hometown. Through Season 23, Laurie captured everyone's hearts with her talent and joie de vivre, and now, she's captured that coveted Mirrorball trophy.

Images: Eric McCandless/ABC