Dancing with the Stars Finale: Who Won Season 23?

“Vanilla Ice and Rick Perry! I mean, that duo never gets old.” 

That quote right there from Erin Andrews just about sums up this season of Dancing with the Stars, which was an odd combination of nostalgia, athleticism, and awkward controversy. 

Regardless, we ended up with three couples who were all equally excellent, and we wouldn’t have complained if any of them had won.

After nearly two hours of performances and one last 24 hour challenge, there was somehow time in the last 10 minutes of the show to announce that Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold were in third place, then cut to a commercial break, and then finally announce that Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy had won season 23. 

While James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess put up an incredible fight, Laurie was pretty much the favorite (and the best dancer) from day one. The Olympic gymnast pretty much never gave anyone else a chance, so this is the correct result. 

Congrats to Laurie, and congrats to us all for making it through yet another season of dancing celebrities. Now off to sleep, for our own private after party in our dreams. Good night! 

Dancing with the Stars will return to ABC in the spring.