'DWTS' Winner Melissa Rycroft Thought Someone Else Would Win, Details
Melissa Rycroft was very shocked to hear that she won the "Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars" Mirror Ball Trophy and not Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, according to the former cheerleader and "Bachelor" star.
On Tuesday night, Rycroft won the ABC reality dancing competition with her partner Tony Dovolani, beating out fellow finalists Johnson and Kelly Monaco, along with their respective dance partners. Rycroft was the only celebrity among the finalists never to have won a "DWTS" trophy. Monaco won the trophy in the first season of the show and Johnson won in season eight, which Rycroft was a finalist in.
Johnson and her dance partner, Derek Hough, were asked to do their freestyle routine once again on Tuesday night because the judges enjoyed it so much. Many viewers thought that what an indication that they might win the entire competition, also because the audience cheered the loudest for them.
After she was announced the winner on Tuesday, Rycroft was ecstatic but revealed later to reporters that she was completely shocked by the results. She was almost sure that Johnson would take home the trophy after Monaco was announced to be third runner-up.
"I cannot believe it," Rycroft told USA Today. "I'm standing here, holding the All-Star trophy."
When they were on stage, she said, "I think we were in shock. When it was down to the two of us, I just assumed it would be them. It had to be the Olympian. So now I'm just really proud of what we achieved here. It's just incredible."
Dovolani, who won his first "DWTS" trophy on Tuesday after being on the show for 14 seasons, said, "it was just an unbelievable moment. I can't even tell you what happened, because I don't know. I just freaked, I just lost it."
The dancing pro said on Monday that he and Rycroft have always "felt like underdogs" but that they "dance liked champions."
Tuesday night's victory also came on the same day as his and his wife's 13th wedding anniversary.
