“Dancing With the Stars” has officially crowned the winner of season 32. The season came to an end Tuesday night, with the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy being awarded to Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy.
The season 32 finale kicked off with an opening number that included this season’s couples performing on the dance floor. The eliminated stars — including Barry Williams, Lele Pons, Mauricio Umansky, Harry Jowsky, Mira Sorvino and others — danced to “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Staton alongside the five finalists.
Season 31 champions Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas also returned to the stage to perform a routine to “Give It to Me Baby” by Rick James.
During the finale, each pair danced twice — a redemption dance, redoing one of their routines from earlier in the season, and a freestyle.
Gomez, 17, and her pro partner Chmerkovskiy paid homage to the actress’ Mexican American roots as part of their final dances. Their freestyle dance to “Que Calor” by District 78 was set against a backdrop of candles leading to a makeshift “ofrenda” (or “offering”) inspired by the altars of Day of the Dead.
“Representation is really huge for me … in Latin ballroom dances, I want to really focus on the, you know, Latino portion of it and making it as accurate as I can.” Gomez told “Good Morning America” after the finale. “I took Val to his first Día de los Muertos dinner, and that’s where he saw the ofrenda, and he was inspired by that like aesthetic and that look.”
Gomez is best known for her role as America Chavez in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” She has also appeared in Netflix’s “Gentefied” and “The Baby-Sitters Club.” She was named to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list in 2022.
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