Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas are the mirrorball champs of Dancing With the Stars Season 31.
According to an exclusive interview with Page Six, the 18-year-old TikTok star said, “It’s been crazy, just so amazing. It all happened so fast that I don’t even know how to feel yet.”
The duo performed a freestyle to Pinar Toprak’s “Us Again” for their final performance. She and her 36-year-old professional dance partner opted for minimal set pieces and focused more on their choreography.
Their strategy worked, beating other dance partners Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy, Shangela and Gleb Savchenko, and Wayne Brady and Witney Carson.
Ballas explained, “It’s funny, I have a folder in my phone of music I’d love to create something to. I haven’t done the show in a long time and I had a little link to that song.” He last joined DWTS in season 25.
“It’s from a Disney short called ‘Us Again.’ And I was like, ‘If I ever go back on the show, use this song.’ So I went back and listened to it, and when I listened to it, I could see it from start to finish.”
Ballas also told the outlet that it was the perfect song because they’ve “become like family” the last few moths.
D’Amelio reflected on her journey, “I’ve had a great time. I think every week I’ve learned something new. From the actual dance moves to learning how to perform and just learning how to rehearse. There’s so many different things that we worked on that I just couldn’t narrow it down to one or even just a few things.”
D’Amelio and Ballas received support from fans but more so from her top fans: her family. Her sister, Dixie, dad Marc, and mom Heidi were seated on the front row together with her boyfriend Landon Barker.
Dixie, 21, said, “I’m so incredibly proud of her. I miss her so much and I’m excited to be around her more. She did so amazing. She’s worked so hard and I’m just so proud of her.”
“She grew up dancing. It’s in her heart, it’s in her blood. It’s so important to her,” her dad said, referring to his daughter’s admission that she was falling out of love with dancing amid criticisms on TikTok.
“For her to get back into this, on this stage and win it, it’s incredible for her,” he added.
