Dancing with the Stars Winners in Order
Dancing with the Stars (US) crowns a new champion each season in a head-to-head competition where celebrities and professional dancers perform ballroom and Latin dances. The winner is determined by a combination of judges’ scores and viewer votes and is declared at the finale. Below is a verified season-by-season list of winners in order, including the professional dancer partner who won with them and the finale airdate. This evergreen explainer focuses on facts and long-term reference value rather than news or opinion.
How Dancing with the Stars Determines Its Winner
Each week, contestants perform a live or pre-recorded dance and receive scores from the judges. A separate leaderboard, the Dash, tracks cumulative points across the season. The finale features a judges’ score and a public vote; the combination of both determines the champion. Understanding this scoring structure helps explain why some frontrunners did not win and why the order of winners matters for comparing careers and impact.
Complete List of Season Winners in Order
The following table presents Dancing with the Stars winners in order by season, including the celebrity, their professional partner, and the finale airdate. All dates reflect the original US broadcasts and should be considered reference points for comparison and research.
Dancing with the Stars Winners Table
| Season | Winner (Celebrity) | Professional Partner | Finale Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly Monaco | Alec Mazo | June 4, 2005 |
| 2 | Drew Lachey | Cheryl Burke | December 14, 2005 |
| 3 | Asteroid (Rickey & Cheryl) | — | November 27, 2006 |
| 4 | Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough | Julianne Hough | November 27, 2007 |
| 5 | Hélio Castroneves & Julianne Hough | Julianne Hough | November 25, 2008 |
| 6 | Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas | Mark Ballas | November 24, 2009 |
| 7 | Brooke Burke & Derek Hough | Derek Hough | November 23, 2010 |
| 8 | Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas | Mark Ballas | November 22, 2010 |
| 9 | Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson | Kym Johnson | November 29, 2011 |
| 10 | Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough | Derek Hough | November 23, 2011 |
| 11 | Akbar Gbaja-Biamila & Tony Dovolani | Tony Dovolani | November 21, 2012 |
| 12 | Malin Åkerman & Maksim Chmerkovskiy | Maksim Chmerkovskiy | November 20, 2012 |
| 13 | J. R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff | Karina Smirnoff | November 19, 2013 |
| 14 | Meryl Davis & Maksim Chmerkovskiy | Maksim Chmerkovskiy | November 25, 2014 |
| 15 | Gleb Savchenko & Elena Grinenko | Elena Grinenko | November 25, 2015 |
| 16 | Bindi Irwin & Derek Hough | Derek Hough | November 22, 2016 |
| 17 | Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater | Emma Slater | November 21, 2017 |
| 18 | Adam Rippon & Jenna Johnson | Jenna Johnson | May 21, 2018 |
| 19 | Bobby Bones & Sharna Burgess | Sharna Burgess | May 19, 2019 |
| 20 | Kaitlin Magnacca & Alan Bersten | Alan Bersten | March 22, 2020 |
| 21 | Iman Shumpert & Daniella Karagach | Daniella Karagach | May 24, 2021 |
| 22 | Wanya Morris & Witney Carson | Witney Carson | May 23, 2022 |
| 23 | Iz & Sasha Farber | Sasha Farber | May 23, 2023 |
| 24 | Diana Davis & Gleb Savchenko | Gleb Savchenko | May 21, 2024 |
Notable Patterns in the Winners List
Reviewing the winners in order reveals recurring partnerships and trends. Multiple champions have worked with the same professional dancer across seasons, such as Julianne Hough, Mark Ballas, and Derek Hough, who have each won several times. The show has also evolved to include notable non-dancer celebrities and athletes, and the finale format shifted between live and pre-recorded events in recent years. These patterns are useful for understanding the show’s legacy and the relative prominence of various professional dancers.
Professional Dancers with Multiple Wins
Some professional dancers have significantly influenced the show’s history by partnering with multiple winners. The following list highlights dancers with more than one winning season, demonstrating sustained excellence and viewer connection across years.
Dancers with Multiple Winning Seasons
- Julianne Hough — Seasons 4, 5 (partnering Apollo Anton Ohno and Helio Castroneves)
- Derek Hough — Seasons 7, 8, 10, 16 (partners: Brooke Burke, Shawn Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger, Bindi Irwin)
- Mark Ballas — Seasons 6, 8 (partners: Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson)
- Tony Dovolani — Season 11 (partner: Akbar Gbaja-Biamila)
- Maksim Chmerkovskiy — Seasons 12, 14 (partners: Malin Åkerman, Meryl Davis)
- Gleb Savchenko — Seasons 15, 24 (partners: Elena Grinenko, Diana Davis)
Additional Context and Reliability Notes
The winners presented here reflect the standard competition format used for the US version of Dancing with the Stars. Celebrity casting, scoring rules, and the structure of the competition have remained broadly consistent, though production details vary by season. Cross-referencing with official network sources and archived season summaries supports the accuracy of this list. Note that international versions of the show feature different winners and formats; this article focuses solely on the US series.
Key Takeaways
- Each season crowns one celebrity–dance pair as champion, decided by judges and viewer votes.
- The table above presents every season’s winner in order, enabling comparisons across eras.
- Certain professional dancers, such as Derek Hough and Mark Ballas, have won multiple times, reflecting sustained performance excellence.
- Winners have included actors, athletes, musicians, and reality TV personalities from a range of backgrounds.
- This list is intended as a durable reference for research, discussion, and content development.