The finale of Dancing With the Stars Season 34 aired Tuesday night, bringing back a star-studded cast to cheer on the top five finalists: Alix Earle, Dylan Efron, Elaine Hendrix, Jordan Chiles, and Robert Irwin. For the first time in the show’s history, the finalists performed three new dances, including judges’ choice, an instant dance challenge, and freestyle. Eliminated cast members, including Hilaria Baldwin, Baron Davis, Corey Feldman, Danielle Fishel, Scott Hoying, Lauren Jauregui, and Andy Richter, returned for the finale to support the remaining couples.
Showrunner Conrad Green and casting director Deena Katz shared that social media, especially TikTok, played a major role in the show’s surge in popularity this season. Fans engaged weekly with viral clips, creating new viewers who tuned in to follow the drama and performances. The scoring system combines judges’ points and viewer votes, each making up half of a couple’s total. In the event of a tie, the couple with fewer public votes is eliminated.
In the judges’ choice round, Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy scored 30 out of 30, Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach scored 28, Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten scored 30, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa scored 29, and Robert Irwin with Witney Carson scored 29. During the instant dance challenge, Dylan, Alix, Jordan, and Robert all scored 30, while Elaine received 27. In the freestyle round, all five couples scored a perfect 30.
After combining scores and viewer votes, Robert Irwin and Witney Carson were crowned winners of Season 34. Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy finished in second place, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa came in third, Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach placed fourth, and Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten finished fifth. Season 34 of DWTS airs on ABC and Disney+, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.
