Dancing with the Stars just wrapped up its 30th season with NBA star Iman Shumpert becoming the first NBA star to win the coveted Mirrorball trophy.
Shumpert was the 30th winner in a show that has 29 regular seasons and one all-star season under its belt.
However, while Shumpert was the first NBA star to win the DWTS finals, he wasn’t the first athlete as there have been several sports stars who walked home with the trophy.
There have also been some big names from movies, TV, and even the musical industry who made their marks on the show.
The professional dancers are very important, as they are the ones who choreograph the performances and lead the way, but only Derek Hough has won a large number of trophies.
It is really all about the performers, the choreography, their hard work, personality, dedication, and even at times, their ability to make the audience fall in love with them.
These stars have to really show their talent and win over the audience to get them to vote for them.
These are athletes with years of physical training, Olympians with years of dedication and hard work, and actors with all the charisma in the world, all traits needed to win over the voting audience at home.
With that in mind, here is a look at the 10 best Dancing with the Stars Mirrorball trophy winners in show history, ranked.
10. Nicole Scherzinger (Season 10)
Nicole Scherzinger came into Dancing with the Stars in Season 10 and most people thought she was a ringer and would have no problem winning it all.
That isn’t what happened, as it was a close season all the way through, even though the former Pussycat Dolls singer finished with a season-high 27.5 average judge’s score.
Nicole only had three perfect scores in the season – for the Jive, Pasodoble, and Argentine tango, before beating Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek in the finals.
9. Alfonso Ribeiro (Season 19)
Alfonso Ribeiro was a fan favorite from the start, and fans were waiting the entire season to see if he was going to pull out his beloved Carlton on the show.
He did in when he danced to the Charleston and it was such a delightful performance that it gave him a perfect score for the performance.
However, Ribeiro was more than a one-trick pony and he attacked each dance with a giant smile and an upbeat personality that made him almost impossible to beat.
He finished with a jaw-dropping season-high of 36.9 judge’s average score. His perfect scores were for the jive, jazz, Pasodoble, freestyle, and fusion.
8. Shawn Johnson (Season 8)
When Shawn Johnson won Season 8 of Dancing with the Stars, she was the youngest champion at that time at the age of 17.
By the end of the season, the Olympic gymnast went head to head with the frontrunner in actor Gilles Marini and beat him with one of the closest votes in DWTS history.
While Shawn’s average score of 26.9 was over a point lower than Gilles, she still won over the fans with her excitement and style.
Through the competition, Shawn had perfect scores in the cha-cha-cha, Argentine tango, and freestyle.
7. Meryl Davis (Season 18)
Meryl Davis came onto Dancing with the Stars as an accomplished ice dancer, a 2014 Olympic champion, and two-time world champion.
While she had mastered choreography in her Olympic career, ballroom dancing is very different and she went on to actually do even better than most fans expected.
She teamed with Maks Chmerkovskiy and the two had chemistry and style that won over all the voting public, as she knocked off Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy in the finals.
Meryl led the competition with a 28.4 average score and finished the season with perfect scores in the jive, tango, Argentine tango, Viennese waltz, freestyle, and fusion dance.
6. Bindi Irwin (Season 21)
Bindi Irwin was a sympathy story, as her father was the beloved late Steve Irwin, and Dancing with the Stars made sure to use his death to great effect in the promos.
However, that isn’t what helped Bindi win Season 21. She was a great dancer and had an infectious personality.
She was so good that she scored a 24 out of 30 in the first week of the season, making her the person to beat. By the end, she had a season-high average of 27.9.
Bindi had perfect scores in the quickstep, rumba, jazz, Charleston, Viennese waltz, Argentine tango, freestyle, and fusion.
5. Amber Riley (Season 17)
Glee actress Amber Riley partnered up with Derek Hough in Season 17 of Dancing with the Stars and won it all.
What was even more impressive was that Riley won the season despite dancing on an injured knee the entire season, while keeping a positive attitude throughout.
Amber was dominant throughout, with a season-high average of 27.8 based on the judge’s scores.
She finished with perfect scores in the Charleston, jazz, Viennese waltz, freestyle, and fusion dance.
4. Apolo Anton Ohno (Season 4)
Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno proved he was one of the best Dancing with the Stars performers of all time when he appeared twice and impressed both times.
He started out in Season 4 by winning it all, showing he was good enough to pick up a perfect score as early as Week 5. He then returned in Season 15 for the all-stars season and finished in the Top 5 then too.
His average score of 27.5 was tied for the best in Season 4 and he was only a little under that in the all-star season with a 27.3.
3. Jordan Fisher (Season 25)
Singer Jordan Fisher teamed up with Lindsay Arnold in Season 25 and the two had an amazing season.
Yes, Fisher was one of the participants with prior dancing experience, but he really buckled down and learned all the different ballroom techniques to take home the trophy.
Jordan not only won the popular vote to win the Mirrorball trophy, but he also held the highest judge’s scores, with a 27.9.
Jordan finished with perfect scores in the foxtrot, salsa, quickstep, samba, rumba, Pasodoble, Jive, Charleston, freestyle, and fusion dance.
2. Rumer Willis (Season 20)
In Season 20, it was a close battle to the end between actress Rumer Willis and singer Riker Lynch.
Both stars had perfect scores and in the end, it came down to the fans who chose Rumer Willis, who won with partner Val Chmerkovskiy.
Riker edged Rumer in judge’s scores, at 37.3, while Rumer was right behind with a 37.0.
Rumer Willis had several highs with the cha-cha-cha, samba, salsa, tango, and the waltz. The perfect scores were for the foxtrot, rumba, Pasodoble, contemporary, freestyle, and fusion.
1. Nyle DiMarco (Season 22)
Model/actor Nyle DiMarco participated as a deaf contestant and then went on to win it all.
As a deaf competitor, DiMarco had a reliance on the vibrations of the music and a high dependency on counting the choreography beats in his head.
However, he did it, and was incredible.
Nyla had the second-best judge’s scoring average, at 26.9 and he had the highest scores for the cha-cha-cha, foxtrot, and tango while getting perfect scores for the Argentine tango, freestyle, and fusion dance.
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The show should return in late 2022.