Glee star Amber Riley was visibly shocked when she won Dancing With the Stars during the Season 17 finale and that's because she didn't think she'd be the champion.

"You can do whatever it is that you put your mind to," Riley said backstage after winning the trophy on the Tuesday, Nov. 26 finale, according to Yahoo. "I think it's amazing that I'm doing something so positive, and I did something just because I wanted to learn how to dance just because I wanted to work out, you know what I mean? I wanted to be healthy. It was kind of a selfish reason."

Throughout the season, Riley made sure it was understood that while her weight wasn't an issue for her, she did want to get healthier and felt dancing would be a good way to do it. Winning was the furthest thing from her mind.

"When we first started, that wasn't the goal-it really wasn't. I was like, 'Okay, this will be cool. It'll be great exercise, I'll gain confidence, I'll learn dances,'" she said. "I love dancing-maybe I'll experience something new."

Even though Riley was focused on getting healthier, she didn't want the press to focus on her weight, and responded to tough criticisms throughout the competition.

"There were a couple [comments] like, 'She danced well-for her size," she told In Touch in October. "I don't want people to think that! I just want to dance well...I don't think it should be an anomaly for a person my size to be able to dance or have confidence. Everyone should have confidence."

Tags
Amber Riley, Dancing with the Stars